


Dawn of Darkness

by pulveremcomedesligulas



Series: The Sankari Legends [2]
Category: The Sankari Legends
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fantasy, Gen, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, something like lotr meets throne of glass meets avatar meets fma:b
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 29,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26589514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pulveremcomedesligulas/pseuds/pulveremcomedesligulas
Summary: On the continent of Sankruus, a war has been going on for years between those who draw their powers from light energy and the invading forces of those who draw their powers from dark energy.Alia is a member of the Sankruus military who has been grounded after a traumatic event happened to her teammates. Despite being suspicious about the circumstances related to the event, Alia has no power to say no when she and her teammate Sabin are assigned a mission to find a powerful member of Alia's own race, the Ellri.Meanwhile, Alek has been traveling on his own for a month after leaving his home on the continent of Einoth. When Alia and Sabin's mission lead them to Alek, it sets in motion a series of events that leads them to uncovering secrets about their world and about themselves.
Series: The Sankari Legends [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1934287
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

_When she finally woke on a dreary rainy day, she wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep._

_Days?_

_Months?_

_Most likely years. Yes, that was probably right._

_Years seemed like a long time to be asleep, but it wasn’t like she had anything else that she could do. She was playing a waiting game right now, waiting for the time when she could re-enter the world._

_Speaking of, was that why she had woken up now? Was it really time?_

_A soft hand tapped her shoulder, not startling her - she had already felt the other’s presence - but calling for her attention._

_Sikaa turned to see the face of another woman, one which was completely unchanged from the last time she had seen her. She would recognize those shining gold eyes anywhere._

_“Dagny,” she said. “Is it time?”_

_Dagny smirked. “You’re the_ aevi _, you tell me.”_

_Sikaa knew she was just teasing her, but she also knew the truth in her statement. Dagny wouldn’t be able to tell if it was time or not. Only Sikaa, with her position as the host of the Aevirda, would be able to tell if it was time for them all to start again._

_Yet the Aevirda’s spirit was quiet within her, and she could tell it wasn’t time yet._

_So Dagny left her, only to return about fifty years later, at the end of her next life. Again, the Aevirda was silent._

_This continued on for centuries, Dagny always returning to her between lifetimes to see if it was finally time, Sikaa never being able to tell her that it was._

_In between Dagny’s visits, Sikaa slept. And while she slept she had confusing dreams. Dreams of the past, of her queen Eira, her self-proclaimed brother Aetos, hers and Dagny’s other friends - Kori, Caderyn, Faylin, Vrai. All of those she had loved during her time with the world._

_She also had dreams of what she assumed was the future, of people who seemed familiar to her but she could not place their names. She saw them forced apart by the Evil, having to live their lives separated from those that they loved. She saw them forming loving bonds of their own, with those they met through their lives._

_She saw their beginnings. She saw their ends._

_It had been the longest span of time yet before Dagny at last came to visit again._

_“Surely it will be time soon,” she pleaded._

_Sikaa knew. She knew how much Dagny ached to find her love - to find Eira. Unlike Sikaa who was able to sleep the time away, Dagny was forced to live through the time awake and alone, day by day, with only a small amount of time to rest between. It had to be taxing and discouraging for her to never find Eira in her many lives. Or worse, to find her, only to lose her again._

_Sikaa wished the best for them, one day._

_Taking a breath, Sikaa looked within herself, searching for that feeling the Aevirda had yet to give her. At first it was quiet, like all the times before, until…_

_There. A small flicker of its eternal flame, brighter now than it had been in the past._

_She opened her eyes and looked at Dagny._

_“It is time,” she said. “It is time we find the others.”_


	2. Chapter 2

The silent thrum of energy pulsing in the air. 

_Three._

The salty stench of sweat dripping down her face.

_Two._

The barely-there scuff of a shoe on the ground and the faintest puff of air.

_One._

Alia’s eyes snapped open right as her opponent’s fist came within a hair’s width of her face. Just as she had anticipated. Schooling her face so that a smirk wouldn’t form at the wrong time, she caught the kid’s fist in her hands while at the same time bringing her leg around behind his, effectively knocking him off of his feet. He landed on his back with an _oof_ and Alia stood over him with a grin.

“Good job, kid. You almost got me that time.”

He responded with a groan and an arm thrown over his eyes. Alia laughed and turned around to look at the rest of the trainees who were still sparring with their partners. She wasn’t responsible for making sure that they were in good form or really even if they were doing the training exercises properly. That was all Kass’ job. Alia’s job was just to make the training a bit more challenging. It’s what she’d been doing for the last five months, but she wasn’t one to complain. Terrorizing the trainees was always a fun pastime. 

Speaking of trainees, hers had yet to get up. Kass wasn’t going to be happy if she caught him dozing. Besides, there wasn’t any room in the military for on-the-job naps. Life just didn’t work like that.

“Here, I’ll give you a hand,” Alia offered the kid. He took it, probably with a little more suspicion than what was called for, given that their fight was done. It wasn’t like Alia was going to flip him… again. 

“Thanks, Lieutenant,” he said quietly once he was on his feet. Alia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Honestly, some of these trainees would never cease to amaze her for having made it this far in their training. 

“Yeah, well just don’t let Gryphin catch you dozing like that after a match, alright? She’s not as nice as I am.”

The kid nodded vigorously in agreement and Alia couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle. She had never had to face the terror that was Kassandra Gryphin as a drill instructor, given that Kass had only completed her military training a few years ahead of Alia, but she knew the woman well enough personally to know that she was a force to be reckoned with. 

“Alia, come here a second!”

Speak of the she-devil. Alia nodded to the kid and then turned to see Kass approaching with a man beside her who was almost easily a foot taller than her. His pale skin and light brown hair stood out in sharp contrast to Kass’ dark features, and Alia couldn’t help but grin at both of them, especially when she noticed the reactions the trainees had to seeing the man.

She recognized him, of course. Corrin Rikr, the physically strongest member of the _Queen’s Team_ , which was the mission group he and Kass were both a part of. Consequently, the Queens were the best team on their base. Of course, the members had other responsibilities besides just going on missions. Kass was a drill leader and worked with new trainees. Corrin on the other hand worked as a sort of intern in the offices of the Head Commanders. 

Because of that, there were only a few reasons Alia could give him for being here, and none were ones she was particularly keen to entertain. That aside though, seeing the looks of intimidation that crossed the faces of the trainees was very enjoyable.

“Hey Kass,” she said cheerfully as she approached her two seniors. Technically, she probably should’ve addressed them by their rank, but none of the trainees were paying attention anymore and besides, Kass and Corrin had never really been picky about that in the first place. “Corrin, what brings you down here?”

“You, actually,” he replied. “Commander Mecah sent me to get you. Apparently, you’re being given a mission.”

“A mission?” Alia asked, not trying to hide the surprise in her voice. “I haven’t had a mission in six months. Not since-”

“I know,” Corrin said, cutting her off. None of them were comfortable discussing the reason why Alia hadn’t been on a mission in so long. “But the Commander said he needed you specifically for this mission. He wants to talk to you as soon as he can, so I suggest we get going.”

Alia glanced over at Kass, who just nodded in response. 

“You can’t really go against the orders of a Commander, Als,” she said. 

She wasn’t wrong, but that didn’t mean Alia had to be happy about it. For the past few months, Alia hadn’t been given any missions because of the extenuating circumstances of what her own team had gone through. She hadn’t really been bothered by this fact, knowing she didn’t want to take an assignment without them. 

But now…

With a sigh Alia gestured for Corrin to lead the way out of the training hall. 

“I guess there really is no other option. Let’s go see the Commander.”

**...**

The market was busy that day.

Alek had been traveling for a few months, not with any particular destination in mind, but really just going where he pleased. That day, he found himself in the middle of a city market somewhere in Sankruus’ largest territory, which was completely landlocked, unlike some all the other territories in the continent. It lacked the harbors and exotic goods that could be found at the markets along the coast, but Alek still found this particular market beautiful for the vast variety of fresh produce that was displayed. 

Of course, not even the markets of Sankruus could compare to those in Einoth.

Sighing, Alek pushed the thought from his mind. He was never going back there, so there was no point in thinking of it. 

He had spent his day traveling through the different stalls and vendors, eyeing the different vegetables and herbs that he hadn’t seen anywhere else in all of his travels. He’d slowly made his way into a section with more craft-type goods, which featured homespun cloth and fabric, pottery and jewelry formed from river clay, and a few stands of farm tools forged by local blacksmiths. It was at a stand selling expertly crafted wooden furniture that Alek had paused at when a voice interrupted him from his wanderings. 

“Hey kid, what’s an Ellri like you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Einoth with the rest of your kind?” 

Apparently, the universe wasn’t on the same “don’t think about Einoth” page that Alek was. Sighing again, he turned to look at the stand owner who had spoken. The man was short with a round belly and dark skin that Alek was pretty sure was common in the northern parts of the continent but rare in this area. He had a pudgy kind of face that was typical of someone who refused to stay out of the business of others. 

“Sorry sir, what was that?” Alek asked, forcing a polite tone into his voice to keep the annoyance out. He really didn’t like being questioned. 

“Ellri are rare in these parts,” the stand owner mused. “In nearly two decades of running this stand, I haven’t seen any of your kind around here. They tend to stick to Valta, where the water is. Saw lots of them up there.” He paused and glanced over Alek casually. “So why are you here?”

Valta. Alek faintly remembered Valta being the name of the northernmost territory. It was the closest one to Einoth, and had been the territory Alek had sailed to when he first came to Sankruus. 

He also knew that there were water and air Ellri who lived in fishing villages along the shores of Valta. But that wasn’t something he wanted to think about, so instead he decided to answer the nosey stand owner’s question.

“I was traveling through after visiting some friends in the southern part of the territory,” Alek answered patiently, the lie flowing smoothly off his tongue. He didn’t have friends anymore, not really anyway. He especially didn’t have any friends here. But it wasn’t like the stand owner would know that about him. “Before I left they suggested I visit the markets in this area, because they are known to have some of the best produce on the continent.”

Blatant flattery, but then again the stand owner seemed like someone who would appreciate such a thing. 

“Hmph, valid enough reason I suppose,” he said with a smug smile.

He paused to take in Alek’s appearance, and Alek found himself tensing up, shifting his stance uncomfortably as he resisted the urge to turn his attention somewhere else. He’d never been a fan of people being overly critical of him, especially now that he’d thought he’d gotten away from that kind of environment. Of course, it wasn’t like this man would be able to analyze him for flaws the way his grandfather had. 

Alek pushed that thought away as soon as it appeared. He couldn’t risk thinking about his past like that. 

Finally, the stand owner spoke. “Say, what kind of Ellri are you anyway?”

“Fire,” was Alek’s default answer, though it was only a partial truth. He was both a fire and water Ellri, inheriting fire from his father and water from his mother. His omittance didn’t matter anyway, because he doubted the stand owner would be able to pick out the difference between the two elements in his features. Most people from Sankruus couldn’t care less about the different types of Ellri. 

“Hmm, that’s no help to me,” the man said. He muttered some things in his native language that Alek didn’t really understand but he knew well enough to figure they weren’t exactly pleasant. Typical reaction to someone of Alek’s race.

“Well, enjoy your time in Suba,” the man said, turning back to his stand.

Alek bowed his head and quickly made his way down the street. That whole encounter had set him on edge, and now he just wanted to go back to the lake where he had set up camp and spend the evening training and relaxing. 

He hadn’t been in Sankruus long, only a few months if he was keeping track of his days correctly. Yet during that time, he’d figured out that the native Sankruus occupants, Sankrin, didn’t often hold high opinions of Ellri. He’d already been approached multiple times by people just like that stand owner who were looking to exploit his abilities. Fortunately, very few had need for an Ellri with fire abilities, and Alek had learned long ago not to talk about his connections with water. 

Gripping the strap of his rucksack tighter, Alek pushed the phantom pains away and once again buried the memories that tried to play through his mind. He’d left that all behind in Einoth, and if there was one thing that he had ever learned from his grandfather was that the past was poisonous. 

But unlike his grandfather, Alek wasn’t going to constantly hold to the past with contempt. Instead, he was perfectly content to forget all of it.

**…**

Alia stood in the doorway of Commander Mecah’s office and couldn’t help but stare. She wasn’t staring at the details of the office. She’d been there enough times to know he had an extravagant wooden desk (which probably cost way too much for what it was used for) that stood as the centerpiece of the room. On either side wall was floor to ceiling bookshelves, filled with books written in languages from all corners of the continent and even more from worlds across the sea. The back wall of the office wasn’t really a wall, but rather was one huge window, looking out on the central green. Alia liked to imagine Mecah standing there in his window like some kind of lofty king, glaring down in disdain at his servants as he watched them perform exercises on the green with their squadrons. 

She herself had manage to skip the level of all the parading and squadrons mess, fortunately enough, so even if Mecah did pull the lofty king act, he’d never turned that gaze on her. 

The Sankruus military was the pride of the continent, the last standing defense between the people of the continent and the encroaching enemy armies of the Konna. As such, the military had a ridiculously complex system when it came to assigning rank. At least, as far as Alia was concerned. 

After completing basic training around the ages of fifteen or sixteen, graduates were tested to see what branch of the military they would best fit into. Those with high physical scores but low intellectual scores would often become normal foot soldiers and placed on squadron. These were the kinds of soldiers that Mecah would hypothetically watch perform drills from his window. Graduates who scored high intellectually but didn’t have the best physical scores would be assigned to office jobs.

Lastly, those who scored high in both the intellectual and physical categories were given the option of joining the elite forces. After completing extra, even more challenging training, recruits were tested for team compatibility. If they passed, they were assigned to a mission team. 

This was Alia’s experience. Almost four years ago, she’d started her training as a new military recruit. About two years ago, she’d finished her elite training along with her teammates and best friends: Fletch Rikr, a telepath a year older than her who was as annoying as he was endearing. He and Alia hit it off as friends and teammates immediately. More surprising to Alia was the team’s third member (and unofficially voted leader) Sabin Raider. She and Sabin had grown up together, until Alia moved away from their childhood village when she was ten. She hadn’t seen him again until they were reunited during training, and it was a surprise to the both of them when they ended up on the same mission team. But they couldn’t argue with the fact that being together again was exciting, and once Alia learned Sabin and Fletch had actually joined the military together, she knew that they had great potential as a team. She wasn’t wrong, either. The three of them had worked together seamlessly for close to a year and a half, rivaled on their base only by the Queen’s Team. 

It was six and a half months ago when they were offered a dangerous mission into Konna territory. The three of them had all been reluctant to accept it, but with the insistence of their commanders, they didn’t have much of a choice.

Until Alia was taken off the mission and assigned to work a mission with the Queens. It was the chance of a lifetime, but left a bad taste in Alia’s mouth to leave the other two. 

Because it meant Sabin and Fletch had to go on the mission alone.

For smaller assignments, it wouldn’t have been a problem. They had all ran solo or double missions plenty of times in their year as a team. They all knew how each other worked and how they would react in certain situations. Sabin and Fletch should’ve been able to handle this mission. Or, that’s how they reassured Alia and what she told herself.

Only something went wrong. Alia never found out exactly what. All she knew is that when she had returned, Sabin and Fletch still weren’t back. They should’ve been back. She had heard from mission control that they had run into “undefinable complications” and that so far, all attempts to find them had failed. She refused to believe they weren’t coming back, even after most everyone else gave up on them, but as the weeks turned to months, Alia couldn’t help but accept that it might be a very real possibility. That realization hurt the most, especially since she had no one to turn to for comfort. She didn’t have a choice but to stand by and wait, even though every day she spent waiting felt like it was killing her slowly. Still, she stood by obediently, until one day Corrin came to her and said he was going to find them. Layne, the leader of the Queen’s team, and Kass were gone away on a mission, he had said, and he couldn’t sit by any longer waiting for the official military search parties to find them. 

Alia and Corrin tried their hardest to find them, but they couldn’t. 

Two months after their disappearance, and the day after Alia and Corrin had returned bruised and disheartened from their own search, Sabin and Fletch finally returned to base. Alia was overjoyed at her teammates’ return, but sobered quickly when she realized they were definitely not the same they had once been. Fletch was missing his right arm, and Sabin had been mostly silent for the last four months, sometimes going days without speaking. Even at the times when he could speak he wouldn’t or  _ couldn’t _ tell Alia what had happened.

She understood. And she tried to be as accommodating as she could with him. After their release from the infirmary upon their initial return, the executive decision had been made for Fletch to continue to recover in the capital city of Aelston. Sabin was cleared to stay on the base, with moderate observation. Alia spent as much time at Sabin’s side as she could. Because of this, she knew more than anyone how much Sabin was still suffering, and how he wouldn’t be able to go back in the field for a long, long time.

She still didn’t know the full details of what happened to Sabin and Fletch other than the one answer her and Corrin had discovered, which was that Sabin and Fletch had both been captured and tortured by the Konna, but without Alia knowing the full story, that would be a liability on a mission. It wasn’t Sabin’s fault, of course. He had tried to tell her many times. She could see how much it hurt him to not be able to tell her. But the fact was that the memories were just too painful for her to force him to relive any more than he already had to every time he closed his eyes.

So to be standing in the doorway of Commander Mecah’s office staring Sabin Raider face to face and  _ knowing _ they were going on a mission together again terrified Alia half to death.

“A...Alia,” Sabin choked out, his surprise in seeing her evident.

Okay, so he was talking today. That was a good sign, right?

“Sabin,” Alia replied coolly, trying to keep her anger at him being there out of her voice as she finally willed herself to enter the doorway completely. She wasn’t mad at Sabin, it wasn’t his fault that he had been called here. But the fact that he was… “I’m guessing Mecah wants you here for the mission too?”

Sabin nodded. Alia raised an eyebrow, wondering if his voice had really gone out that fast. But then he took a breath, and when he spoke, his voice was almost as strong as it had been before he had gone on that mission. “He’ll be back in a few minutes. There was another meeting he had to attend, but he left instructions for us to make ourselves comfortable.”

Alia hummed and made her way over to one of the two chairs on the office side of the desk, collapsing into it unceremoniously. When Sabin gave her a look, she said “What? He said to make ourselves comfortable.”

Sabin sighed and took the seat next to her, looking out across the desk at the window. Alia could tell his gaze really wasn’t focusing on the view, and she felt a twinge of pain as she once again realized how much her friend was hurting, and how very little she could do to help him.

“Hey,” she tried quietly. “How are you doing today?”

Sabin jumped out of his thoughts and looked over at her in surprise. “Me? Yeah, I mean, I’m fine.”

“You didn’t sleep last night, did you?”

A tired sigh escaped his lips. “It’s… hard sometimes. You know that.”

“I know. I just wish…”

“You do enough as it is,” Sabin said. He studied her for a second before saying “You didn’t sleep well last night either.”

“Ugh, no, it’s those stupid dreams,” Alia said. 

“The ones where you’re a grand knight living in a beautiful kingdom?” Sabin teased. 

“You know that’s not what they are! They’re…”

Before she could finish her response, however, the heavy wooden door opened and Commander Horus Mecah entered the office. 

The Commander wasn’t a very tall man, or at least Alia was taller than him, but with cold eyes and a stern face he could immediately demand the attention of any room he walked into. 

“Ah, good, you’re both here. That means we can make this quick.”

“Sir,” Sabin said, as Mecah made his way around to the other side of his desk. The Commander raised an eyebrow at him, which Sabin took as a cue to continue. “I’m not saying that I won’t accept the mission, but I wasn’t aware I had been cleared for duty yet?”

Alia shot a glance at Sabin from the corner of her eye, though she didn’t fully turn away from where she now sat straight in her chair facing the Commander. She hadn’t actually been made aware if Sabin was cleared for duty or not, either. Sure, he was back on base, which was more than what Fletch could say, but for the most part he’d not been given any kind of assignments as far as Alia knew. And if she was allowed any say in it, she wasn’t going to let him go on any assignments. Not yet, at least. 

But Alia didn’t have that kind of say.

“That’s been discussed, but the other Commanders and I believe you should be fine for this mission. It is just a simple retrieval mission. If I were to be completely honest with you, the only reason you were chosen is because Paryi is an absolute necessity for this mission, and she hasn’t been on any missions without you or Rikr. And obviously Rikr...”

“Sorry to interrupt, sir,” Alia said, not sorry at all, but she could sense Sabin tensing up at the mention of Fletch, and frankly she herself didn’t need the reminder. “But why am I an absolute necessity if this is just a retrieval mission? What are we retrieving?”

Mecah looked up at the two of them. Alia couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved by his gaze, and Sabin only grew tenser when he met the Commander’s eyes. 

“Paryi, you are one of our most valuable assets on this base, if not in the entire military, because of the fact that you are the only Ellri we have enlisted here. For this mission, you two are being sent to the territory of Suba to find an individual who we have word has become of great interest to certain Konna groups in the area.”

“Sir, that… that still doesn’t answer my question,” Alia said slowly. She realized she was treading on thin ice. “I mean… I’m still not sure why I specifically am important to this mission, or what my being an Ellri has to do with it.”

“It’s because the individual you two are being sent to find is a rare kind of Ellri,” Commander Mecah said, consulting some files on his desk. “According to our sources, this one is rumored to be a hybrid of both fire and water elements.” He raised his head to meet Alia’s eyes, and Alia felt her heart stop in her chest. 

Fire and water. That had to be just a coincidence, surely. 

Sabin seemed to sense her distress and reached over with his foot to tap hers. Alia tried not to see the irony in the fact only a few minutes ago she’d risked insubordination to protect him from going into a panic attack, but now he was comforting her in such a small way.

It could’ve worked, if not for the Commander’s next words.

“That was your parents’ elements, weren’t they, Paryi?”

There. That was the point Alia had been trying to not think of. Despite losing her parents eight years ago, it was still a sore topic for her. Sabin had been there the night they died, so of course he knew all this, and was also why he had been trying to comfort her. But now Mecah had spoken everything into the open, and Alia had no choice but to respond.

“Yes sir, they were.”

Gods, she hoped her voice didn’t sound as thick as it felt.

“So you are familiar with how to track that kind of energy?”

Ah, so that was the real reason they needed her. It wasn’t really common knowledge that Alia had the rare ability to sense the energies in the world surrounding her. Honestly, it had taken her years herself to figure out that’s what it was, and not just her being weirdly over perceptive about things. It was one of the things that the Commanders asked her to use most on missions. She shouldn’t have been surprised that it had boiled down to this.

“Yes sir.”

“Well it shouldn’t be a problem for you then. And of course you will have Raider here to help sniff out the Ellri scent as well,” Mecah said in an overly cheerful tone. He stood up and collected some papers. “Now that that’s cleared, if you two will report to mission control for the rest of the details of your mission as well as departure and transportation information. I have another meeting to prepare for, but I wish you luck.”

Then the Commander made his way across the office and exited through the door, leaving a stunned Alia and Sabin to process what had just happened. 


	3. Chapter 3

A week after the incident with the stand owner, Alek found himself in a different town and a different market trying to restock on supplies. Really, he preferred to avoid the markets altogether (especially since the generous amount of money he’d been given by his mentor Oly before coming to Sankruus was quickly running out and he had no way of making more), but he wasn’t familiar enough with the local plant life to risk using that exclusively for all his needs. 

It wasn’t that big of an issue though. Most of the stand owners this trip had been polite and willing to barter for manageable prices that Alek could deal with. He would have considered it one of his better market trips, if it weren’t for the constant sense of dread he felt growing in the back of his mind. It had been there since he woke up that morning, and no matter what he could not shake it. 

After securing his purchase of some burn healing herbs he knew would probably come in handy (because contrary to popular belief, fire Ellri were  _ not _ fireproof), Alek turned around and found himself face to face with a tall, tan skinned man that could be more accurately described as a medium sized tree. Not many people Alek encountered were taller than him, but this man was able to look down at him in a way that completely intimidated Alek. 

“Oh, I’m sorry sir,” Alek said, trying to sidestep past the man. But as he moved to go around him, a huge, strong hand reached out and grabbed his arm in an unbreakable grip. Alek looked back up at him and for the first time noticed the gleaming cat eyes the man had. 

_ Konna. _

A sly smile revealed pointed canines, and the man spoke in a deep voice. “No need to apologize. I actually needed to ask you something.”

Alek’s mind raced. Growing up, he’d heard tales of the Konna, the so-called demonic race of people that originated from a southern island chain but had somehow ended up on the continent of Sankruus. A race that were said to be the incarnates of evil, they’d mostly been used as a scare tactic for small children. Alek himself hadn’t really feared them until he was ten. That was when the Konna had taken everything from him.

Now, staring one straight in the face, all he knew was that he had to get away. But with the man’s vice grip on his arm, there was only one thing he could do, even if it was going to hurt like hell.

Good thing he’d bought those burn herbs.

Taking a deep breath, Alek willed the arm that was currently being held captive to catch on fire. It took only a second for his captor’s skin to burn enough to force his hand open. Alek didn’t pity the burns the man he would have, knowing his own would be at a much lesser degree but still painful. Already they were starting to sting. 

But no time to think about that. With the Konna man distracted momentarily, Alek took off running, not really caring about the direction but just knowing he needed to get away. 

Why, of all times, did the Konna have to find him now? Of course, he had known that would be a risk when he made the decision to come to Sankruus. But he’d been here for months with no problems. So why were they bothering him now?

Alek pushed his way through the different market streets, shouting apologies when he could and praying to the gods he was putting enough distance between him and the man who had tried to capture him. 

After nearly ten minutes of straight running, Alek forced himself to slow down. He figured he’d given himself enough of a head start to take some time to catch his breath. He’d just take stock of himself for a few minutes, maybe find some water to cool down his burn, and then…

Those plans all came to a halt, because at that moment the large black dog jumped on him. 

**. . .**

Alia was going to kill that stupid dog. Forget the fact that he wasn’t actually a dog at all but rather was her shapeshifter of a best friend. It didn’t matter. She was going to kill him.

“Don’t run off! Get back here!” she shouted as she watched his dark shape take off across the market. To herself she muttered “this better be worth it” before running after him. 

She found him standing over top of and barking at a man lying sprawled on the ground. Alia didn’t really pay attention to the man though, or really even what he looked like, mostly because her dog-shaped best friend kept nosing his chest.

“Hey dog breath, leave the guy alone,” she scolded. The dog noticed her and did as he was told, though she didn’t miss the look he sent her. Oh, she would definitely be hearing about this later.

Rolling her eyes, Alia looked down at the man, who seemed to have composed himself enough to be staring at her with very wide eyes.

“Sorry about him, he’s just excita…” her voice trailed off as she got a good look at his face. He had dark bronze skin and angular features, with a jawline that probably could’ve cut someone. His dark brown hair was just long enough to cover his ears, but Alia couldn’t miss their elegant shape that identified him as Ellri. Lastly, her eyes slipped over to meet his, and she found herself staring into bright silver eyes that were flecked with bits of gold. She would’ve recognized those eyes anywhere; she saw them every time she looked in the mirror. 

There was only one other person she had ever known to have eyes exactly like hers.

“Holy shit,” Alia muttered. “ _ Alek.  _ It’s you.”

The man seemed surprised she knew his name. A few seconds passed and it seemed as if he were fighting an inner sort of conflict Alia couldn’t quite understand. She glanced down at her dog-shaped companion, who somehow managed to look almost as surprised as she was.

Finally, Alek seemed to decide on words to use.

“Oh gods,  _ Alia _ ,” he said as he scrambled to get to his feet. “I… oh my gods.”

Alia couldn’t help but laugh at his dumbfounded expression, even though internally she felt the same way. After eight years of being separated, she was finally being reunited with her twin brother. 

Holy shit. She was being reunited with her brother. 

Before Alia could really even notice what she was doing, she found herself holding her hand up, palm facing Alek. He understood and held his up too, pressing his palm against hers. Immediately, Alia felt the connection she held with her brother flow through her entire being.

_ Gods I missed this,  _ she said to his mind. 

The way they spoke to each other’s minds wasn’t the same as direct telepathy, but more so a way of sharing feelings and emotions. Direct word for word conversations was a little trickier, and was something they could only rarely do. 

_ Me too, _ Alek sent back. 

They stood there for she didn’t even know how long. It must have been an interesting sight, seeing two Ellri holding each other’s hand in the middle of a marketplace in Suba, with a black dog barking at their legs. 

Oh, there was a dog barking at their legs.

Grumbling, Alia pulled away from her brother and glared down at the dog.

“Sabin, shut the hell up. Can’t you see we’re having a moment?”

The dog growled at her in annoyance. 

“Wait,  _ Sabin _ ?” Alek asked, looking down at him and then back up at Alia. “You don’t mean Sabin Raider, do you? As in our old neighbor Sabin?”

Alia nodded with a sigh just as Sabin bumped his head into her leg. She looked back down at him, and he gave two short yips before gesturing with his head. Their signal that there was trouble.

“Shit,” Alia said. She glanced where Sabin had indicated and immediately picked up on the immense amount of dark energy coming from that direction. Realization of what was happening settled deep into her stomach.

She and Sabin had been sent here to find the fire-water hybrid Ellri that had become the target of a local Konna group, but after being in Suba for nearly a week, they had found no other Ellri. 

Until now. 

Alia looked back at her brother, who was looking at her in confusion. Was  _ he _ the Ellri the Konna were after? 

Fire and water had been their parents’ elements, and Alek…

Who else could it be?

Another surge of dark energy told Alia she didn’t have time to figure that out. They had to get out of here.

“Sabin, find a path,” she said, reaching to grab Alek’s arm. Sabin barked once before taking off in the opposite direction of the dark energy. Alia followed after him, pulling her brother along with her.

“Alia… what's happening? Do you know what’s going on?”

“I’ll explain more later, but in short there are Konna around and we aren’t safe here.”

A glance back told her that Alek had at least picked up on the atmosphere around them; his face was hard set in a look of concentration, not panic.

Sabin led them across the length of the market, taking quick turns down narrow streets and through a couple less-than-sanitary alleyways until they reached the edge of town. Away from the crowds, Alia nodded Sabin towards a small building that they had cleared earlier that day as their rendezvous point. He gave a nod of agreement and nosed open the door. Alia and Alek followed.

After making sure that the door was secure behind her, Alia turned to see her brother embracing a man a few inches shorter than himself, with pitch black hair and dark olive skin. She smiled faintly before they could catch on that she’d turned her attention to them. 

“Alright Alia, tell me what’s going on,” Alek said, immediately cutting to the chase once he and Sabin parted. 

“Sabin,” Alia said in way of answering. “You’re better at explaining these things.”

Alek turned his attention to the other man beside him. Sabin’s bright green eyes met Alia’s for a second before he cleared his throat. 

“Alia and I were sent here by the Sankruus military,” he said. His voice was a bit hoarse, but then again it always was after he had spent too much time in animal form. Or if he’d gone too long without speaking in general. “We were given the instructions to find a powerful Ellri that we have reason to believe the Konna is targeting.”

“And you think I’m the Ellri?” Alek asked, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“We weren’t sure what we would find,” Alia said. “We were only told to find a powerful Ellri.”

Alek frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in a way that made Alia’s heart clench. He looked a lot like their father with that expression. 

“Define powerful,” he said in a steely tone.

Alia and Sabin exchanged a glance, as if trying to figure that out. Alia knew Sabin had very little experience with Ellri aside from herself and her family when they were younger, and therefore would probably not be able to tell a really powerful one from one who was quite average. Especially since Alia herself was not an accurate measure to compare against. 

Of course, there was one detail they had about the Ellri that they hadn’t mentioned yet. Alia figured it couldn’t hurt to tell Alek that.

“From what our sources told us, the Ellri was rumored to be a hybrid. Capable of controlling two elements.”

Alek’s eyes widened slightly, but other than that his face didn’t give anything away.

“An Ellri with control over more than one element is practically unheard of,” he said quietly. “You know that.”

“See, I did know that,” Sabin said, looking quite proud of himself. Alia shot him a glare before looking back at Alek. 

“But you can do it,” she said. It wasn’t a guess. She could sense the different energies flowing around him. The water and fire of his blood blending together in a rare kind of power that shouldn’t be possible but was.

Even as kids they had known that he had inherited both of their parents’ powers. 

Alia tried not to let that fact hurt her. She had known for a long time she wasn’t meant to inherit either of her parent’s abilities, making her an oddity among the Ellri. She’d grown used to the surprised looks other members of her kind gave her when they realized she didn’t have the ability to control an element. 

She was about to say something when Sabin suddenly stiffened. It used to be humorous to see his human ears perk up as if he were still a dog, but right now Alia only felt a spike of anticipation flood through her. 

“Sabin, what is it?”

He frowned and moved closer to the door, sniffing quietly. “The Konna are getting closer. They’re downwind, so their scent is further ahead than it normally would be. But we need to get moving. We aren’t safe here.”

No, they definitely weren’t. Knowing what Alek was - the hybrid Ellri they had most likely been sent to find - only made Alia hate their situation even more. The Konna would do anything to get their hands on a normal Ellri, let alone a hybrid, seeing as hybrids were so rare no one knew anything about them. The Konna would see Alek as a pool of untapped potential, and Alia wasn’t about to subject her brother to that.

“Sabin, lead the way,” she said.

He nodded and pushed open the door. As he stepped through it, the air around him shimmered and then Sabin was back in his dog form. Like always, it was safer to let him take the lead in a less conspicuous form than risk Alia or one of their targets getting caught. Sabin ran out the door, paused a few hundred yards away to sniff the air and then took off again, towards the woods at the edge of town. Alia watched him from the doorway, her hand hovering over her belt, where her throwing knives were at the ready.

“We’ll meet back up with Sabin in the woods,” she told Alek. Her senses were raised to pick up on signs of dark energy that seemed to be fast approaching. She spared a glance up at her brother. “You ready?”

The emotion on his face was hard to read, but he nodded anyways.. 

Alia turned back to the door and took a breath. Sabin was almost to the woods, but not out of range if they needed his help. There was no telling how many Konna there were, and while Alia was sure in her abilities, Alek himself was a wild card. She had no idea what he was capable of, or if he even had any training. He might be a hybrid Ellri, but if he couldn’t efficiently use that power, then that didn’t mean anything.

Too much thinking. She would have to worry about Alek’s capabilities or lack thereof later. Right now they just needed to get to safety. Without taking any more time to worry, she tapped Alek’s wrist once before taking off after Sabin. 

**. . .**

There was a lot going on, and Alek wasn’t very sure how to process everything. All he knew for sure was that his twin sister had somehow managed to find him again after eight years of being separated and that now he was following her as they were running away from Konna that were apparently chasing after him.

Given his luck in life, it seemed about typical. 

They were only about a few hundred yards away from the woods when  _ something _ rushed passed them and knocked Alia off her feet.

“Alia!” Alek shouted, right as his own feet got swept out from under him. The breath was briefly knocked out of him, but the sound of Alia’s insistent voice pushed him to his feet.

“It’s a runner,” she said. She’d positioned herself in a crouch, ready to spring out of the runner’s path in a single second. One hand was poised on the ground for balance, but the other was held behind her, surrounded by throwing knives that were suspended in midair. 

Alia’s powers, Alek thought. He hadn’t realized… of course he had  _ known  _ her powers were different but... 

“Alek, I need you to get to the woods,” Alia ordered. “And before you protest, right now  _ my job _ is to protect you. We can argue sibling dynamics later.”

“Als…” Alek hesitated, despite Alia’s warning.

“Alek,  _ go _ ! Find Sabin. I’ll pin cushion this bastard and catch up with you guys in just a minute.”

She really didn’t give him any room to argue, and she seemed like she knew what she was doing, so Alek nodded gravely and took off. 

It didn’t take long to find Sabin, mostly because Alek just had to follow the sounds of shouting and swearing. Sabin apparently had run into a plant controlling Konna who was currently entangling the shapeshifter in a twisting cocoon of vines. Even though he kept changing into different kinds of animals, the vines would just adjust to his shape. 

“Sabin, hang on!” Alek shouted. He thrust out his hand and a blast of flame hit the vines where they attached to the trees from above. Sabin dropped unceremoniously onto the ground and the vines loosened enough around him enough for him to transform into a rabbit and rush over to Alek’s side. Two seconds later, the rabbit was gone, and Sabin stood next to Alek in his human form. 

“She might still be around, but I’ve had encounters with this Konna before,” Sabin said quietly, eyes scanning the trees. He sounded slightly winded, and Alek wondered briefly how quickly Sabin’s powers exhausted him. “She’s terrified of fire, so with you here, she probably won’t see any point in staying.”

Alek nodded silently, also taking a moment to take in his surroundings. The trees here weren’t terribly thick, being at the outskirts of the forest, but he could tell they definitely got thicker the further in they went. 

“Anyway, thanks for the save,” Sabin continued. “Where’s Alia?”

“There was a runner. She told me to run ahead and find you. Something about doing her job?”

“Yeah, well considering our job assignment is to make sure the Konna don’t capture you, then yes, that would make sense,” Sabin said. “Either way, she should be fine. Runners can be dangerous, but Alia’s powers let her sense where people and objects are in a space. So even if she couldn’t see the runner moving, she could still sense them.”

“Aw, such high praise, Raider.”

Alek turned to see Alia walking up approaching behind them, a smug look on her face. She was sporting a long cut on her left arm that was dripping blood, but other than that she looked unharmed. Alek couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. 

“Only for you, Paryi,” Sabin smirked back, seemingly glad to see his partner in one piece. 

“Yes, well I successfully just turned that runner into a porcupine, and it seems like you two had a vine roasting party, so how about we get going?” 

“Going where?” Alek asked.

“We can’t say just yet,” Sabin said. “Just in case the Konna still have ears around. But don’t worry, we’re going to get you out of their reach.”

Alek nodded, and Alia gave him a bright, reassuring grin in return before pushing forward to lead the way into the forest. 

Except she only made it a few feet before she froze.

“Als?” Sabin asked in a hesitant voice. 

“There’s more,” she said. “I can’t tell how many, there’s practically this… cloud of dark energy that’s hanging over the area right now. It’s nearly suffocating my senses, but there’s at least…”

That’s when Alek felt the cold grip at the back of his neck and felt the dark energy enter his veins, choking as his airways began to be cut off. 

Alek’s mind started to cloud as the darkness overwhelmed him. He could feel his consciousness starting to fade, but he was able to process clearly enough Alia’s cry of “Let him go!” and feel the grip on the back of his neck disappear. The dark energy stopped continuously flooding into him, but the damage had been done. Alek felt his legs give under his weight and he barely acknowledged being caught and held up on both sides. 

He heard voices speaking on either side of him, but couldn’t quite make out their words. Trying to force clarity into his mind, Alek managed to recognize Sabin supporting his right side and Alia on his left. He couldn’t see much through the haze of the dark energy, but he could see the concern on Sabin’s face and the pure rage on Alia’s. That faded when she met his eyes, replaced with something Alek couldn’t quite identify. 

“We’re taking you somewhere safe,” she said. “Just hang on a little longer. Please Alek.”

She and Sabin kept saying things like that as they dragged him through the forest. It became harder and harder for Alek to stay awake. He could feel the dark energy threatening to pull him under, and he was so tempted to let it. But the voices of his companions kept him just barely at the surface of consciousness.

Just when he felt he couldn’t hang on any longer, they reached their destination. A small cabin, hidden deep in the woods. Alek wasn’t alert enough to make out what Alia and Sabin were really saying anymore, but the tone of Alia’s voice sounded skeptical at least. Sabin’s was reassuring, and so the trio found themselves at the front door of the cabin with Sabin knocking on the door. 

The last thing Alek remembered seeing before he lost consciousness was a short blonde woman standing in the doorway with a look of shock on her face before she slammed the door on them. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter introduces a character who is deaf. As such, she uses sign language to communicate (with a few exceptions). Dialogue that is signed will be put in [brackets].

In the four years that Maegyn had been helping her brother Zig run this safe house, she had only been caught off guard twice. 

The first time had been six months ago, when a group of Zig’s military friends had brought in a half-dead Sabin Raider and an even worse off Fletch Rikr. Apparently, Zig’s friends had rescued them from a Konna facility after they had been captured and tortured for weeks. The two had stayed with Maegyn and Zig for nearly two months while they healed and until they were sure the Konna were off their trail. 

Now, four months later, Sabin Raider had shown up at her front door for a second time, once again catching Maegyn off-guard with the fact that not only was _he_ there, but he was accompanied by Alia and Alek Paryi. 

And of course, someone had to have been dying.

After listening to Sabin pound his fist against the door for about a minute while shouting _“Come on, Mo, open the door! We need help!”_ Maegyn finally managed to pull herself together and let the three in. 

It was second nature to lead them down the secret back stairway and into the bunker that rested below the house. If she ignored the memories trying to force themselves into the front of her mind, she could almost pretend this was like any normal assignment. 

Except it wasn’t. She had known that before she even opened the door that first time.

Maegyn set the trio up in the bunker’s larger bedroom before making her way to the supply closet to try and find _something_ to help Alek. To keep him alive.

She’d expected Sabin to follow her so it wasn’t any surprise when his voice sounded behind her.

“I know you’re looking for something to fix Alek, but Alia’s bleeding pretty badly right now too. I need bandages.”

Maegyn didn’t bother turning around, but instead pointed to a shelf behind her, a little to the left of where she could feel Sabin’s presence. “Basket in the middle. You’ll probably need a sling for her arm too. Just for tonight, until the wound has a little time to scab over.”

“I didn’t…”

“Mention her arm? You don’t need to around me, remember? Oh, and grab some burn ointment for Alek while you’re at it.”

Sabin didn’t respond directly to that, but she could hear the quiet scuff of the basket against the wooden shelf as he pulled the bandages out. She continued her search through the shelves. Her brother had used what she was looking for last, which was the _only_ reason she hadn’t already found it. If she had been the one to use it, she would’ve remembered exactly where she had put it. 

“I expect you’re going to tell me why you’re here?” Maegyn said after a few minutes of silence, knowing Sabin hadn’t left. “Even though last I saw you I remember telling you very distinctly it was safer for both of us if you never came back?”

“I didn’t really have any other options, Mo,” he said, the nickname he and Fletch had made for her bringing a faint smile to her face despite the unhelpful answer. Of course she already knew that he wouldn’t be able to give her a more detailed answer, but he at least was being honest about it. Not that she ever expected Sabin to be anything but honest. “We weren’t supposed to come here. We were meant to take Alek to the closest military base, but we were attacked and well…”

“Alek was overexposed to dark energy,” Maegyn finished for him, exhausting her search of the shelves on one wall and pushing past Sabin to continue her search on the other wall. Where the hell had Zig put it?

“Are you looking for the same stuff you gave Fletch and me?” Sabin asked, taking interest in her search. 

“Unfortunately, no,” Maegyn said. “I know where that is. It’s on the second shelf, third row. But that wouldn’t work for Alek, since he’s not like you and Fletch.”

“Because he’s an Ellri?”

Maegyn hummed an agreement as she crouched to inspect an unlabeled jar on the bottom shelf. Much to her disgust, it wasn’t what she was looking for, but rather just some pickled beans her brother had apparently stored away. Standing up, she grabbed the rolling ladder and pushed it to the edge of the wall to begin her search of the top shelves. 

“Sankrin like you and Fletch thrive off of light energy. An overexposure to dark energy for you is basically a form of suffocation for your life source. When you guys were last here, I gave you a tonic that was meant to replenish your light energy sources.”

“And that wouldn’t work for Alek?”

Maegyn sighed. “Really Sabin, I thought you were supposed to be smart. Anyway, because Alek is an Ellri, he doesn’t use energy _at all_. So too much exposure to either kind isn’t good.”

“So what is it exactly that you’re looking for?”

“What I am looking for is a potion meant to expel the excess energy and return the body to equilibrium. My brother and I use it if we’re ever exposed to too much of one kind of energy.” 

“Right, because of the Kalahati thing,” Sabin said. 

“Look, I’m not complaining about the fact that you’re having a very talkative day, especially after what just happened,” Maegyn said. She didn’t miss the slight wince Sabin gave in reference to the Konna attack he had just dealt with. “But if you are going to continue standing there being chatty and _unhelpful_ , then the least you can do is push my ladder further along this shelf.” 

When Sabin did as she instructed, Maegyn turned her eyes back to the top shelf and couldn’t help but cheer when she finally caught sight of the corked bottle that was labeled exactly with what she needed. Grabbing it and sliding down the ladder, she looked up at Sabin, noting not for the first time how much annoyingly taller he was compared to her. 

“That _Kalahati thing,_ as you put it,” she said, “is not something to necessarily think negatively of. Kalahati are nothing but neutral. We are not purely dark like the Konna, nor are we purely light like the Sankrin. We also do not exist outside of the energies like the Ellri do. Instead we are placed right in the middle of the energies, feeding off of both dark and light, good and evil, for the purpose of being a balance in the world.”

Sabin smirked at her. He knew all this of course. He’d heard the spiel many times before, back months ago when she’d told him how she and Zig had come to live at the safe house out in the middle of absolutely nowhere. 

“Of course. I could never forget you’re the great balancer of this crazy seesaw world.”

“Hey, that is _not_ what I said.”

“Oh I know, but you didn’t _not_ say it. Anyway, I think I’ve let Alia bleed out long enough. We should probably go tend to our patients.” He gestured to the door with that stupid smirk that made Maegyn want to punch him. The idiot. “Shall we?”

They left the storage room and while the atmosphere behind them was light enough, and Sabin was so unlike the many people Maegyn had met in life who _had_ thought negatively of Kalahati, it hurt her to know she still kept important details from him.

After all, how was she supposed to explain that while some Kalahati were meant to be great balances in the world, some were born for the sole purpose of tipping the scale?

**. . .**

Nicea pulled the cloak that hung over her shoulders tighter before straightening her back and approaching the door in front of her. She was about to raise her hand to knock when the vibrations of footsteps on the wooden steps behind her reminded her of her present company. 

Taking a breath, Nicea turned around to face the muscular bodyguard.

"[ I know my parents want you sticking by my side at all times, but I really do think I’ll be okay in here .]"

Her hands moved quickly as she signed out the words before nodding to the building in front of her. The aging townhouse was one she had visited many times. Even with her parents’ new fascination of making sure she had a bodyguard for almost every waking moment of the day, it had hardly ever been an issue to visit here until now. 

The guard looked like he wanted to reply, no doubt to make a statement in regards to how Nicea really couldn’t know what was best for her own safety, but was interrupted by the door opening. Nicea found herself looking up at the smiling face of Fletch Rikr. 

“Nicea!” he said cheerfully, his hand moving in the shape of her name as he spoke it. His eyes cut over to the guard behind her, seemingly appraising the fact that there was one today. The last few times Nicea had been over to visit, she had been lucky enough to get away without having to deal with a guard following her like a shadow. Not so today, but Fletch at least didn’t seem fazed by it. “Don’t worry. I can watch over her.”

The last part he didn’t sign, and Nicea was barely able to catch the words forming on his lips as he spoke them. 

When the guard gave no visible response of moving from his post, Nicea had to fight back a sigh of exasperation.

_ He’s new, _ she thought, her face remaining impassive.  _ I don’t think he knows you’re military. _

Fletch’s expression didn’t give away any sign that he had read her thoughts, but he did reach into the collar of his shirt and pull out the pendant that served as his military ID. Nicea’s brother had one identical to it.

“Like I said, she’ll be fine with me.”

Nicea’s guard looked between the two of them before bowing his head to her slightly.

"[ I’ll wait out here then, Miss Raider ,]" he said. His signing was slow and sloppy, definitely unpracticed or very recently learned. 

Nicea nodded in agreement, though honestly she wished he would just leave and not stay outside the door. She wasn’t sure of this guard’s powers, and knew her parents would never be suspicious enough of her to send someone capable of eavesdropping on her conversations from a distance, but this was not something she wanted to risk. 

_ He seems like a pleasant fellow _ , Fletch mused as Nicea shrugged her cloak off her shoulders and slipped out of her boots in the foyer. His thoughts flowed easily into her mind, appearing to her as signed words that she didn't have to struggle to understand. 

_ It’s absurd my parents want me to be guarded all the time. I’m not a fragile doll. _

_ You know how they are, _ Fletch said.  _ Anyway, I have tea. _

He led the way into the sitting room, and Nicea couldn’t help but notice the way his right side sleeve hung emptily at his side. 

_ My arm is currently being repaired, _ Fletch said, apparently picking up on her thoughts she  _ hadn't  _ pushed in his direction.  _ My cousin Corrin’s friend, he thinks he’s come up with a new way of channeling energy through it so I can actually use it. _

Nicea’s eyes widened in surprise. They had all thought that Fletch would never have use of his arm again after he and Sabin being captured by Konna had resulted in his arm being amputated. There were such things as prosthetics, but normally those were just space fillers unless the person actually had a power that would allow them to move the prosthetic. Being a telepath, Fletch didn’t have that.

_ Are you going to have it back in time? _ Nicea asked as they settled down onto the couches across from each other.

Fletch chuckled as he reached out and picked up a cup of tea.  _ Cutting right to the chase, huh, Nic? _

_ It’s not like we really have a lot of time to do otherwise, Fletch, _ she sighed, picking up her own cup and sipping it gingerly.  _ Have you heard anything from my brother? _

_ Last I heard, he and Alia had made the checkpoint at the base in Suba, but that was nearly a week ago. _

A week ago. That meant the reunion probably happened today. And if that was today…

_ Are you still sure about this? _ Fletch asked, his joking tone from earlier gone.

Nicea looked down at the tea in her cup, as if the cooling dark liquid would provide an answer. 

_ No _ , she thought.

_ But… _

_ But I’ve considered all the other options. We all have… You know this is the best one. _

Fletch placed his cup down and held up his hand in surrender.  _ I know, Nic, I know. This is something we’ve all been over a hundred times. We’ve taken every detail into account and if there was a better way, we would’ve chosen it, but I still… _ He took a breath and met her eyes. She forced herself not to flinch away from the mixed color of his gaze, even though she knew he could read every thought and insecurity she currently had in her mind.  _ Most of us have an emotional investment in this, but you do more than almost any of us. I need to know if you are okay with what is going to happen, Nicea. _

_ You know better than anyone,  _ she answered quietly.  _ You… you know I hate that we have to let this happen… _

She didn’t want to let it happen. None of them did. But she had seen the alternatives if they interfered. Her dreams and visions gave her options - paths to choose - but they were never wrong about the outcomes. The choice they had made to let what was going to happen happen had been made because out of all the possible outcomes, it was the only one that held any semblance of hope. 

Nicea didn’t realize her hands were shaking until warm, calloused fingers wrapped around them. She didn’t look up from her hands as Fletch gently took her cup from her and set it on the table, then grasped her hands with his. 

_ I do know,  _ he said.  _ I’m sorry. I just… I had to make sure. Nicea, I know you think that what you see in these dreams and visions are your responsibility and that you’ve got to deal with all of this on your own but, gods, you’re sixteen Nic. You aren’t going to be able to handle these things alone and that’s okay. That’s why you have us to help. _

He was right of course. Fletch had an annoying habit of doing that often. Sabin did too, come to think of it.

The thought of her brother made Nicea’s heart clench. With everything that was going to happen, she couldn’t help but worry about him. Was he going to be okay? Had she made the right choice to keep him safe?

_ Hey, _ Fletch said, tapping a finger underneath her chin so she lifted her eyes to look at him.  _ Chin up kiddo. Your brother is one of the strongest guys I know. If anyone is going to be okay through all of this, it’s going to be him. Alright? _

Nicea nodded, giving Fletch a faint smile. Of course he would have faith in Sabin. Those two had survived hell together. He knew just what Sabin could endure. 

He was going to be fine.

**. . .**

Sabin re-lived it all in his nightmares. It started with the attack - always the attack. Always the disappointed look on his father’s face, the stern voice in his mind saying “you failed” over and over until not even covering his ears helped block it out. His mind that was screaming now because there was something -  _ someone _ \- invading it. Not supposed to be there but how could he fight back? He couldn’t fight something he couldn’t see, couldn’t smell, touch, or even hear. Hear. Was that Fletch he could hear? Was he crying? Why would Fletch cry?

_ Disappointment. _

His father’s voice was still there, but now there were more. His mother was there. But it wasn’t her. Couldn’t be her. Why would she side with his father? Had she finally seen Sabin for what he really was?

Fletch was screaming louder now. That seemed to be real, but Sabin couldn’t tell anymore. There was too much. Too much happening. Too much that he couldn’t understand and suddenly he felt tight rope like  _ things _ wrapping around his limbs and making him immobile and he  _ couldn’t move.  _

_ Failure. _

Gone was his father. Gone was his mother. He only saw one face now. Black hair. Green eyes. Disgusted face.

He saw himself.

Part of him knew it wasn’t real. Knew that it was just the darker thoughts of his mind being brought to life, trying to convince him of things he didn’t want to believe. But then the ropes dug deeper into his skin and that was real. That pain was real. So why wouldn’t the words he was saying to himself be real? They were true after all. He was a disappointment. A failure. He would never be able to live up to all the expectations that people held for him. He never... 

_ “ _ Sabin! _ ” _

That voice was different. Was it real? Sabin couldn’t tell. The ropes were growing tighter around him and he was finding it harder and harder to breath as the ropes stretched around his neck and strangled him. 

“Sabin, wake up! It’s not real it’s not…”

With a gasp Sabin threw himself into a sitting position. His hands flew to the blankets around him, his grip tightening around them and his eyes were squeezed shut. His mind was racing, so he only faintly processed the quilted material of the blanket instead of the thick wool of his blanket at the base. That was different. Was he not at the base?

“Sabin…”

That voice again. Hesitant. Questioning. Sabin blinked his eyes open and slowly took in his surroundings. The room was dark, but his eyes naturally adjusted to be able to see in the dark anyway. He wasn’t in his room at the base, it seemed. Instead he was in a small bedroom that was… underground? That’s what it smelled like. There wasn’t much in ways of furnishings in the room. Just the bed he was currently in and a bedside table. There was another person in the room too. He heard their heartbeat before he saw them. Turning his head in the direction of the sound, he found his eyes meeting glowing silver. 

His primal instincts sent him flailing backwards before he had fully processed what he was seeing. The instincts didn’t seem to recognize the person in front of him, even though a small part of his brain said he should - that she wasn’t a threat. But his instincts were screaming for him to run, to get away. Because his instincts knew that fighting Alia probably wasn’t the best of ideas. She always radiated power, and it had taken Sabin’s non-animal side a while to get used to it. Normally that was the side in control. But right now it wasn’t, so every single one of Sabin’s instincts were screaming at him to get out, get away from the threat.

“Sabin, it’s okay,” Alia said. Her voice was calm, as if she were speaking to a scared child or animal. In a way, she probably was. “It was a nightmare. You’re okay now.”

Sabin found himself struggling to reign his instincts in. His head was spinning, and his senses were overloading. He inhaled deeply, but didn’t feel like he was getting any air. The thought sent another wave of panic through him. Oh gods, what if he wasn’t able to breath anymore? He was going to suffocate. 

“Stay calm, Sabin. Stay calm.”

Alia’s voice was there. Sabin could see her kneeling at the side of the bed. In his hyper-aware state, he could tell her hand was resting only inches from his, but she hadn’t touched him yet. 

As if picking up on this realization, Alia pushed herself up off the floor and positioned herself on the edge of the bed. “I’m going to touch you now Sabin, okay? I’m not going to hurt you.”

Sabin might have managed a slight whimper in response but Alia took his hand in hers before bringing her other hand up to the side of his head. Ever so gently she pulled his head towards her. He found his forehead resting against hers, the faint puffs of her breath brushing across his face as she looked him in the eyes.

“Okay, good,” she said quietly. “I need you to breath now, Sabin. Breath slow, not deep. You’re going to be okay.”

They stayed like that for Sabin didn’t even know how long. Eventually, he found his breathing going back to normal and his mind calming down. His senses dulled to their usual awareness. Slowly, he pulled himself away from Alia, still keeping her hand in his. He lowered his gaze and took another slow breath.

This wasn’t the first time Alia had pulled him out of a nightmare or calmed a panic attack. Since he’d come back to the base after his mission-gone-wrong, it had become an almost nightly occurrence for them. So much so, that Alia had just taken to staying in his room at night, despite the risk of being caught and reprimanded. Sabin was thankful for her company at least. It made the room feel less empty in Fletch’s absence. That aside, Sabin hated having to put Alia through this. 

There was a painful twinge between his eyebrows from Alia flicking his forehead that made him look up to her scowling face. 

“Hey, enough of that,” she said.

Sabin opened his mouth to respond  _ “enough of what?” _ only to realize that, unsurprisingly, his voice wasn’t working. It was something that had also become a constant alongside the nightmares and panic attacks. And something else he wished Alia wasn’t so patient at dealing with. With an inaudible sigh, Sabin collapsed back onto the pillows. He tried to pull one over his face, but Alia grabbed it before he could. Her face filled his vision instead, her long brown hair falling over her shoulder and tickling his nose. 

“Enough of the negative thoughts,” Alia said. When Sabin gave her a puzzled look she rolled her eyes. “I can read you well enough to know that’s what was happening, Raider.” With a sigh, she pulled back from his line of sight and propped herself up on the bed next to him. They sat in silence for a while - not that Sabin had a choice, but Alia seemed to be content with not saying anything either. When she finally did speak, it was soft, barely a whisper.

“You know I don’t mind, right? Helping you? I mean, yeah it sucks that this happens and I wish you didn’t have to go through this but… I care about you and I’m not going to leave you to suffer alone, okay?”

At some point through her speech, Alia’s hand found its way to Sabin’s head, where she started to slowly comb through his hair with her fingers. Sabin had once fought against such touches from her and Fletch, mainly because they always teased him about “enjoying being petted”, but ever since being captured he found Alia’s soft gesture calming. 

“I’ll stay with you the rest of the night,” Alia said. “Alek isn’t supposed to wake up until morning, and I can sense his energy levels from here anyway. So try and get some more sleep, Sabin. I’ll be right here.”

Sabin nodded, even though he could already feel sleep starting to pull at him again. Alia continued to run her fingers through his hair and speak calmly to him - recollecting stories about the two of them and Fletch during their academy years or stories about them as children. All the stories were happy ones that pushed the remnants of Sabin’s nightmare to the back of his mind, where he felt confident it would stay hidden for at least another day. 


	5. Chapter 5

Layne had visited many taverns in her travels. They were cheap to stay in, had decent food, and considering she often needed to travel under the radar, they provided a decent way to maintain anonymity. 

Which for this meeting, was important. 

It was an hour or so after sundown. Layne had arrived about ten minutes ago to find a secluded booth in the back of the tavern. The person she was supposed to be meeting would be along soon, but Layne didn’t wait for her before placing an order for a bowl of stew and a drink. 

She was nearly finished with her food before her companion decided to make her appearance. 

“You certainly like to pick seedy places to meet.”

Layne barely even spared a glance up at the female standing outside of her booth. 

“Emali,” she said. “You’re late.”

The woman chuckled as she slid into the seat across from Layne.

“Yeah, it’s funny how someone with my abilities can still manage to be late,” Emali said. She leaned across the table enough to make Layne raise her eyes to look at her. 

“Yes?” Layne asked, her voice trying to project the small amount of annoyance she had at the other. 

In reality, Layne wasn’t actually annoyed with Emali. Mostly because Emali was barely around enough for Layne to become annoyed with. It was only these meetings, which were few and far between, that Layne ever really interacted with her. 

“What are we drinking?” Emali asked as she leaned back and reached for Layne’s drink. Layne watched silently, hiding her amusement as Emali swirled the drink around in its glass. The tavern was poorly lit, so even someone with Emali’s eyesight couldn’t see the color of the drink well. A second later she tipped the glass back and took a sip, almost immediately coughing.

“Dammit, why is it that you always drink whiskey?” Emali gagged. “And why do you always let me drink it?”

Layne smirked as she reached back across the table to reclaim her glass, tipping back the rest of her whiskey without so much as a flinch. 

Emali groaned before waving down the tavern maid to order her own drink - some strange fruity concoction that Layne was sure contained way more alcohol than the whiskey that Layne held up to be refilled. 

It didn’t take long for Emali to get her drink as well as her own bowl of stew. Layne sat patiently sipping at her whiskey while waiting for Emali to finish her meal. They made idle conversation as she did, mainly discussing the various places they had traveled recently. Layne had recently visited her home on the island of Natira, where she worked as an ambassador for the Sankrin military. The position was mostly useless, given that the people who lived on Natira were primarily pacifists. As far as Layne knew, there were only a few from her island that had ever moved permanently away. And the number of those who had joined the Sankrin military was significantly smaller. 

Layne had her reasons though, for why she had come to this continent. One of which was the woman sitting across from her, tipping her bowl up to get the last of the broth from her stew. 

Emali set her bowl down with a smirk, leaning back into her seat as she picked up her drink. After taking a sip of it, she finally spoke.

“Alright, so to get down to business,” she said, her playful tone from earlier dropping away. At this point, the change in demeanor didn’t surprise Layne. She knew that all of Emali’s swaggering and joking around was really just a front. That the life the woman had experienced had hardened her. She just chose to hide it away. “You know why I called you here, right?”

Layne nodded, watching the amber liquid in her glass swirl around. She didn’t know the specifics of why Emali wanted her here, but as with any of their other meetings, she knew it had to be important. 

“I’m not fully caught up on what is happening,” she said. “But I know it’s started.”

Emali hummed her agreement. 

“I’m guessing you at least know that Alia and Sabin were sent on a mission…”

“To retrieve a rare Ellri with hybrid powers, yes,” Layne said. She had been the one to send the information to the Commanders in the first place that there was such an Ellri traveling through Suba. She had assumed the involvement of an Ellri would guarantee Alia’s placement on the mission. Sabin had been an unknown, since he hadn’t been in the field for nearly six months. 

Layne had also had suspicions of who the Ellri hybrid was, despite having never met him herself. But according to everything that Emali had told her in their past meetings, it really could have only been one person.

“I don’t have it confirmed,” Emali said, “but my _informant_ seems pretty sure that Alia and Sabin found him a few days ago. Maybe even yesterday.”

“So they should have brought him to the Konoz’ri base in southern Suba,” Layne stated. “Given that my report to the Commanders said that would be the closest base to where the hybrid-Ellri had been spotted.”

“Oh I’m sure that’s what the original plan was,” Emali hummed. “But that’s not what happened.”

Layne leveled her gaze at the other woman. “Stop being unnecessarily cryptic and just get to the point, Emali.”

Emali let out a huff of air. “Take away half the fun, why don’t you?” She took another long sip of her drink and sighed. “Fine. My informant was fairly certain that Alia and Sabin would never get the Ellri - who did turn out to be Alek, like we assumed- to Konoz’ri. She can track them to southern Suba, but no specific location.”

“So that means-”

“Right, best we can figure is that something happened to make Sabin detour them to the safe house.”

Layne nodded slowly as she leaned back to process the information. She knew who Emali’s informant was, of course. They never named her in their meetings, due to the fact that her family was a fairly well known and respected family, but in the years she had known her, Layne had never come to doubt the word of what Nicea Raider said, even if it was always given to her through Emali’s mouth.

This news about Alia and Sabin’s mission wasn’t entirely unexpected, but Layne had to admit she was a little uneasy with the timeline of it. 

“It’s all starting faster than we expected, I know,” Emali said softly. “It would’ve been better if we all had more time to get ready for it but…” She gave a faint chuckle. “I guess that the cards just weren’t in our favor for this one.”

Layne gave a noncommittal noise in response. It was one thing for Emali to say she hadn’t been ready for this to happen, and another for Layne and those she represented. 

After all, while they were on the same side in this, their overall paths were not going to be the same.

Taking a breath, Layne leaned forward, bracing her forearms on the table. “So we’ve got four of the key players stepping onto the stage then?” she asked, not looking up at Emali.

She knew the face the other was making anyway. The one where she would bite at her lip and avert her eyes, displaying her discomfort regardless of if she wanted to or not. 

“It would appear that way,” Emali finally said. “Though they all have different cues to follow. Same with the others. They’ll all come in when they’re needed.”

Layne looked up to meet Emali’s eyes then. “And what about your cue?”

There was a spark in the other woman’s eyes that Layne almost found herself envying. She had known since their very first meeting that Emali, like any other person, had her share of doubts. But she was excellent at hiding those doubts when needed. 

And right now, that cocksure smirk on Emali’s face secured Layne’s faith in her. 

Emali stood up from the table and waved her hand to summon more than enough to cover their bill for dinner and drinks. She collected the traveler’s cloak and staff she had leaned against her side of the booth before nodding at the tavern maid who had waited on them. Then she turned back Layne.

“I learned a long time ago that to really make it through the terrors of this world, a person has got to learn not to take cues from the universe, or fate, or what-have-you.” She turned her back on Layne then, pulling the cloak’s hood over her head as she did. 

Quietly, so that Layne was barely able to hear, Emali added: “I am my own cue, Arashi Layne. You should learn quick to become yours.”

And then the woman named Emali was gone, and Layne was left alone with an empty stew bowl and a room temperature glass of whiskey. 

**. . .**

They were woken up a few hours later by a smug Maegyn. Sabin was groggy when she came to, but thankful that the last few hours had been spent in a deep and nightmare-less sleep. At some point during the night Alia had curled up next to her in the bed. Sabin couldn’t help the fond smile that formed on her face as she detangled herself from Alia’s limbs and replaced her body with a pillow, which Alia immediately latched onto. 

“You know, part of me wants to comment on this, but you two used to always do this when we were kids so I’m not actually surprised.” 

Maegyn’s voice held nothing but amusement as she spoke, but Sabin still sent her an irritated glare. 

“Shut up, O’Carroll,” Alia muttered, her face buried in the pillow. 

Maegyn and Sabin both blinked at her in surprise. In the silence that followed, Alia huffed and pushed herself to a sitting position, narrowing her eyes at Maegyn. “What, you thought I wouldn’t figure it out?” she asked, shaking her head with a small laugh. “Your energy is the same it was when we were younger, Mae. Maybe a bit stronger, but still reads the same. You weren’t fooling me for a minute. That and you just mentioned us being kids so…” 

“I guess I did open myself up for that one, didn't I?” Maegyn crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe she was standing in. “You know I was wondering if you would recognize me or not, given that it took Sabin most of a month to finally put the pieces together.” 

Sabin tried to protest, but quickly realized her voice was still not working. So instead she blew a puff of air out and slumped back down on the bed.

“Is your voice still out?” Alia asked quietly, placing her hand on her shoulder. Sabin nodded, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. She couldn’t say she was surprised that her ability to speak hadn’t returned in the few hours of sleep she had gotten, and it wasn’t like it was that much of a hindrance since both Alia and Maegyn understood sign enough for her to communicate that way, but that didn’t mean Sabin still wasn’t frustrated by her inability to speak. 

Turning to Maegyn, Sabin gave her the sign for  _ sorry _ . 

“Oh please, Sabin, like I was expecting you to be able to talk all the time after only being gone for four months. I’m used to this by now.” Maegyn glanced over at Alia. “You can understand his signing too, right?” 

“[Actually it’s her today, Mo], ” Sabin quickly signed. 

“Right, got it,” Maegyn turned to Alia. “You can understand her signing too, right?” “I was admittedly a little rusty to start with, but yeah,” Alia said. “Meaning that you can go ahead and tell us whatever it is you came in here to say.” 

A smirk formed on Maegyn’s lips. “What if I was just coming to say breakfast was ready?” 

“Would’ve smelled it,” Alia replied at the same time Sabin signed it. 

“Oh, of course, Ellri and their heightened senses, plus Sabin’s animal senses. I wouldn’t have been able to get that past either of you, I suppose,” Maegyn gave a faint laugh before taking a breath. Her demeanor changed instantaneously at that. She stood up from her relaxed lean and faced both of the two on the bed with a serious expression. “What I really came to tell you is that I don’t think you should take Alek back with you to the military.”

Alia and Sabin both sat in shock for a moment before Sabin finally brought her hands up to respond. 

“[ Those are our orders] ,” she signed. “[ We’re meant to bring him back to the Suba military base so he’ll be safe]. ” 

“And you really think that handing him over to the military will keep him safe?” Maegyn asked. “Think about it. He’s not just a powerful Ellri. He’s a powerful Ellri with a  _ rare  _ ability. People would literally kill to be able to have access to someone with his kind of power. Hell, the Konna probably already have.” 

“What’s your point?” Alia asked, hostility slipping into her tone. 

“My point is, Alia, that as soon as you turn your brother over to the military, they are only going to take advantage of him and his power. He’ll lose any real kind of freedom he has.”

“[ Be careful what you’re saying, Mo] ,” Sabin said. “[ We both work for the military] .” 

“So you two know how it is!” Maegyn snapped. For a second, Sabin saw her light blue eyes flash to a darker shade, and the light of the room caught on her bared canines - which, as a Kalahati were longer and sharper than those of the average person. That second passed as quickly as it came, though, and Maegyn slumped back against the wall. “Look. I know you probably don’t want to admit this, but can either of you honestly tell me that the military would  _ not  _ take advantage of someone as powerful as Alek? You especially, Alia, should know better.” 

Sabin shifted her gaze over to Alia, who was staring down at the bed’s quilt so intensely it almost seemed as if she were trying to burn a hole in it. Gently, she reached over and tapped the top of her knee, a gesture of physical comfort the two of them and Fletch had come up with

to use when any one of them was going through something but it wasn’t a good time to make a bigger movement like they normally would. 

The fact was that they  _ knew  _ the military took advantage of Alia’s powers. They had always known. It was the reason Alia had been allowed the special training and special treatment, neither of which were really bad things. But it also meant that she didn’t always have options on how her powers were used for missions. It was what led her to being assigned to the Queen’s team for a mission instead of going with Sabin and Fletch on their mission that led to them being captured. 

Alia still felt guilt over that. 

Maegyn seemed to pick up on Alia’s discomfort and gave a resigned sigh. “I’m not trying to say that the military isn’t doing this because they feel it’s in their best interest. But the fact is that Alek has no experience with Sankruus’ military, which I guarantee the military will  _ also  _ use to serve their best interest.” 

“Just because Alek spent eight years in Einoth…” Alia started, but Maegyn held up a hand to stop her. 

“I’m not criticizing him for not understanding how the military works, Als. When we lived in Satama, we didn’t have to deal with them aside from Sabin’s parents and the small guard regiments that lived on the island. The military didn’t actually become a relevant point in our lives until we moved to the mainland.” She paused, reaching up to pull on one of the curls in her hair, a nervous habit Sabin had noticed during her first stay here. With a faint breath Maegyn continued, this time in a quieter voice. “Alek didn’t experience the same we did, because he never lived on the Sankruus mainland. I don’t pretend to understand how Einoth operates, but I’m certain it’s different than here.” 

As she finished, Sabin turned to Alia. She wasn’t trying to will a hole in the quilt anymore, but she still had a look of concentration on her face. Sabin tapped her hand lightly, pulling her attention to her. 

“[ He’s your brother] ,” she signed. “[ You make the call]. ” 

Alia watched her signing with rapt attention. When she finished, Alia nodded and straightened her back. Turning to Maegyn, she took a breath before speaking. “I appreciate your concern Mae,” she said. “And you’re right that the military would jump at the opportunity to take advantage of Alek’s abilities. I… I wouldn’t really wish that upon him. So if I were to make the decision myself, I’d choose to not turn him over, orders be damned. But if it’s alright, I want to wait for Alek to make his own decision.” 

Sabin blinked in slight surprise at Alia’s admittance. Alia had never been one to go directly against orders like this. Challenge them, yes. She did that all the time - or she would, if Sabin and Fletch weren’t there to keep her in check. But to disobey them entirely? 

Then again, this was for Alek. He was her twin brother, and part of the last family Alia still had. Sabin knew that if it had been her in this situation with her sister in question, she would do the same. 

“That’s understandable,” Maegyn said with a nod. Then she pushed herself off of the wall and clapped her hands together. “Alright, well now that that’s taken care of, I probably should go make breakfast. Alek should be waking up in another hour or so. You guys just hang tight until then. I’ll bring the food down here.”

With that, she turned and left the room. 

Alia wasted no time falling back down onto the bed. Sabin couldn’t blame her. It had been a long week for them, with the taxing mission to hunt down the targeted Ellri, then finding that Ellri only to realize that it was Alia’s twin brother that neither of them had seen in eight years. Then of course being chased by Konna and Alek being attacked… 

Also the fact that neither of them had gotten much sleep last night, thanks to Sabin’s nightmare. 

“Stop it.” 

Sabin glanced down at Alia with a questioning look. Alia had her arm thrown over her eyes, but she apparently didn’t even need to see her expression to know what it was. 

“You were overthinking again,” she said. “And blaming yourself for the nightmare.” She sighed as she pushed herself back up to a sitting position and looked Sabin directly in the eyes. “It’s not your fault Sabin. None of it ever will be. Not yours. Not Fletch’s. Neither of you could have prevented what happened.” 

She didn’t say it out loud, but given the recent topics of conversation Sabin could tell what Alia’s unspoken thoughts were. With zero hesitation, she reached up and flicked her forehead. 

“Ow! What the hell Sabin?” 

“[ It’s not your fault either] ,” she said. When she glared at her, she added “[ If you won’t let me blame myself, you can’t blame yourself. That’s how it works]. ”

“We agreed to nothing of the sort,” Alia muttered, crossing her arms over her chest in a pout. With a huff she lowered her shoulders. “Anyway, we can argue that at another time. But I think for right now I’m going to go wait on my brother to wake up. You want to join or…?” 

“[ I think I might go see if Mo needs help with breakfast] ,” Sabin replied. 

“Yeah, make sure she doesn’t poison our food,” Alia said. Sabin fixed her with a look and she held up her hands. “Hey, don’t give me that I accused her of the same stuff when we were kids.” 

Sabin conceded that much as she pushed the blankets off of her legs. She had never tried to understand Maegyn and Alia’s relationship when they were younger, but it was comforting to see that despite the separation of eight years, they hadn’t changed. 

At least one thing was still the same. 

**. . .**

The swirling darkness that surrounded him was oppressive and oddly familiar. It suffocated him, preventing him from calling out to the elements like he normally would in times of disquiet. The feeling of being trapped in this darkness reminded him of what it was like living in Einoth, under the scrutinizing care of his grandfather. There he had to suppress half of himself in order to escape his grandfather’s wrath. This darkness felt like that. Felt like he needed to suppress who he was in order to prevent unwanted consequences. 

He wasn’t sure how long he was there, trapped alone in the dark. It seemed like an eternity, even though after a while he began to realize a faint trace of light was bleeding through, slowly chasing the shadows away. They moved away and he could see the light focusing in one place. An exit. A way out, if only he could reach it…

Alek woke with a start in a soft bed and an unfamiliar room. His thoughts raced, trying to figure out where he was or how he had gotten there when a gentle hand grabbed his arm. “Hey, calm down. You’ve been comatose for nearly a day, you need to take it slow.” Alek looked up to the person who had spoken to find… 

“Alia?” 

Of course. Alia. She and Sabin had found him in the market, had helped fight off the Konna that were tracking him and promised to get him to somewhere safe. “Hi Alek,” his sister replied with a grin. “How are you feeling?” 

As the memories of what had happened slowly started to fill in, Alek became acutely aware of the headache that throbbed through his head. 

“Like I’ve been run over by a stampede of wild horses,” he groaned, closing his eyes and leaning back on the pillow. If Alia was here, he figured that he didn’t have to keep his guard up.

Alia chuckled. “Yeah, we kind of expected that to be the case. Here, drink this. You’ll feel better.” 

She handed him a cup of some suspiciously colored liquid. Giving Alia a skeptical glance, Alek took the drink and downed it in one go, immediately having to fight not to spit it out as the disgusting taste hit his mouth. 

He continued coughing as Alia took the cup from him and set it on the bedside table. She then sat down on the bed next to his feet, looking at the wall across from him with a thoughtful look. “Why are you here, Alek?” she asked after a few moments’ silence. 

“Huh?”

“Why are you in Sankruus?” Alia clarified, turning to look at him. Her silver eyes that matched his own bore into him. It was a look Alek was very familiar with, despite having not seen it in eight years. “You should be in Einoth. Why aren’t you?”

“I…” Alek faltered. He had never had to explain the truth of why he left Einoth. Even Oly had understood why he was leaving, and hadn’t asked questions. He had never expected to have to tell the truth, mainly because he had never expected to see anyone who would particularly care why. 

But Alia would care. He and Alia had grown up hearing the same stories about the wonders of Einoth - of how beautiful of a continent it was and how Ellri were able to exist there without having to be constantly wary of others using them for their own gain. 

Alia had been barred from going to Einoth after their parents died, because she didn’t have powers over fire like Alek did, and therefore their paternal family had no place for her. 

If anyone deserved to hear the truth of why Alek had left Einoth, it was Alia. 

“I couldn’t stay there anymore,” Alek said softly. Alia lifted an eyebrow in questioning, and Alek forced himself to take a breath. He didn’t want to talk about his reasons for leaving - it brought up too many bad memories of his life there. But at the same time, he knew talking about it would probably be good for him. His and Alia’s mother had always told them to talk about their problems and not to keep them bottled up, which was something Alek had fallen short of doing for years now. 

“Living with Dad’s family… wasn’t good,” he said. “They… they weren’t fans of Mom, and even before they found out that I was a water-fire hybrid, they were dismissive of me because of Mom. I had to keep my water abilities hidden from them for years. When they did find out…”

The memories of that day flashed through Alek’s mind as he struggled to explain it all to his sister. The sharp smack across his face from his grandmother had just been the start of it. Ever the traditional patriarchal family, it had been his grandfather who had chosen Alek’s punishments. Multiple punishments, one for lying to the family, and an uncountable number for something he couldn’t have prevented - for being able to control water. 

The punishment his grandfather had chosen was one from the most ancient of traditions among the fire Ellri, one that was normally only reserved for traitors and the most heinous of criminals: lashes from a whip bathed in fire.

Alek would forever bear the scars from that day. 

He’s sure he would’ve faced worse if it hadn’t been for Oly. A childhood friend of his father’s, Oly had been the only one from the village that had really ever cared much for him. She had been the one to teach him how to use his fire abilities properly, and had been the only person he had ever trusted with the secret of his water abilities since he had arrived in Einoth. When Alek’s grandfather had put him through those lashes, it had been Oly to step in right as Alek lost consciousness. She had taken him to her own house to heal, fending off any approaches his family tried to make. And after Alek had fully healed weeks later, she had been the one to help him escape to Sankruus. 

When he had finished his explanation, Alia wasn’t looking at him. Instead, she was staring at the wall again. Anger radiated off of her in waves, but Alek could tell that wasn’t the only emotion she was feeling.

It was a while before she spoke. 

“I guess I get why Dad left Einoth now,” she said faintly, in a weak attempt at a joke. Despite the hurricane of emotions that were raging through Alek at the moment, he couldn’t help the small smile that formed. 

“That’s true, I suppose.” 

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Alia said, turning towards him but not meeting his gaze. “It… it’s beyond wrong. I’m just glad that Oly was there to help you and to help you get out safely.” She finally looked up at him, giving him a sad smile. “And now you’re here.” 

“And we’re back together,” Alek added. 

Alia stiffened slightly at that. Averting her eyes, she sighed. “Yes, about that… I can’t stay here for too long. Sabin and I are supposed to check in at the local military base in the next day or so, regardless of how our search has turned out.” 

“Will I be going with you?” Alek asked. He knew Alia and Sabin had been on a mission to find a powerful hybrid Ellri that was in the Suba territory. It had to have been him, which meant they probably needed to bring him to the military when they went back. 

“That’s… up to you,” Alia said slowly. “Maeg… I mean the caretaker of the safe house suggested we not turn you in, because there’s a likely chance for the military to take advantage of you - of your powers.” 

Alek couldn’t help but wonder, if Alia thought the military would take advantage of his powers, what were they doing with hers. He imagined it was very much the same but decided not to bring it up. Instead, he asked “So where would I go?” 

“You can stay here with me.”

The voice startled both Alia and Alek, as they both jumped to face the woman standing in the bedroom’s doorway. She looked familiar, and while Alek had the faint recollection of seeing her before he had lost consciousness when they had first gotten to the safe house, that wasn’t where he remembered her from.

“Shit, Maegyn, don’t just sneak up on us like that,” Alia muttered. 

“I figured you would’ve sensed me coming, Paryi. Or are those heightened senses of yours all talk and no show?” the woman said with a smirk. 

Alia grumbled a number of unflattering things towards the woman, but Alek didn’t hear them. He was too busy staring at the room’s newest addition. Maegyn… her name was Maegyn. But there was no way that… 

“Before you hurt your brain too much, Alek, yes, I am in fact the same Maegyn O’Carroll you knew as a kid.” 

Alek startled when he noticed Maegyn standing on the other side of the bed, hands propped on her hips and an amused look on her face. 

“No fair, you didn’t tell me that when I first showed up here!” Sabin said as he entered the room. 

Wait, that wasn’t right. Alek tilted his head slightly as he noticed the person who walked in after Maegyn  _ looked  _ like Sabin, but with longer hair and a more feminine frame.

“Well it looks like the princess found her voice again,” Alia said, grinning at her teammate. Then she turned quickly to Alek. “Oh, by the way Alek, Sabin occasionally has days where she feels more comfortable presenting as female and using female pronouns. Today is one of those days.”

Sabin blushed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Uh, yeah. Thanks for mentioning that Alia. I kinda didn’t think about the fact Alek wouldn’t know. But don’t worry if you slip up and use the wrong pronouns, Alek. I won’t bite your head off over it.” She sent Alek a small smile before turning back to Alia. “As for my voice, it came back while I was helping Mo with breakfast. Being able to relax doing something mundane like that helps take my mind off of… well you know.” 

There was a lot happening at once, and Alek felt like he was getting whiplash just trying to follow it all. 

Maegyn seemed to pick up on his confusion though, and she waved her hand to catch the attention of the other two. 

“Sorry if this is a lot to take in Alek,” she said. “I’m not sure how much you remember, but these two brought you here last night after you were attacked by a Konna with abilities to control dark energy, it seems. They had used those abilities against you.” 

“It knocked you out and would’ve killed you if we hadn’t gotten you here in time. Maegyn had the right antidote for a dark energy overdosing,” Alia explained. 

“I had been here before, a few months ago. It… it wasn’t really a good time for me, and Mo wasn’t really excited to see me back on her front doorstep, but after we were attacked yesterday, and you got hit, it was a better option than the military base we were supposed to take you to,” Sabin added, finishing the explanation of how Alek had gotten to where he was. Alek was still a little lost on the detail of Sabin’s voice being gone or coming back, or why Maegyn had a safe house in what he presumed was the middle of nowhere, but he figured those were stories he didn’t need to hear at the moment.

“Oh,” Alek said. “That makes sense.” He looked up between Alia and Sabin. “So you two are going to have to report back soon, right?” 

They both gave solemn nods in response. 

“We’re supposed to check in at the Konoz’ri either today or tomorrow,” Sabin said. “Whether we found the Ellri we were sent after or not, they’re expecting us.” Except they had found the Ellri they were supposed to find, because they had found Alek. There were very slim chances that there was another water-fire hybrid Ellri that was in the same area of Suba they had been told to search. 

“Like I told you earlier, it’s up to you if you want to come with us,” Alia said. “If you go, there’s a very likely chance of the military wanting to abuse your powers.” 

“They do that to yours, don’t they?” Alek asked. 

Alia seemed to be startled by the question, glancing nervously over at Sabin before sighing. “They do. But I willingly joined the military, so I made the choice for that. That’s why I’m giving you the choice too.” 

“You don’t have to go with us,” Sabin said. “We can make excuses for not having found the Ellri yet.” 

“Will you get in trouble for not finding who you were sent to find?” 

“Eh, we might,” Alia admitted. “But honestly, our team is a really valuable asset to the military. And especially after the shit that went down with the last mission… anyway, the most we’ll get is a slight reprimand. Nothing you should worry about.” 

Alek nodded at that and turned to Maegyn, who was leaning on the wall behind him, having been simply observing the conversation with a faintly bored expression on her face.

“You said I could stay here?” 

“Sure,” Maegyn said. “For a while anyway. At least until we can be sure the Konna that were hunting you have moved on to somewhere else or given up. Which I doubt is likely, but at least we can buy you some time to let the trail go cold.” She pushed herself off of the wall and brushed her hands off on the skirt of her dress before looking back up at him. Alek couldn’t say he trusted the mischievous glint he could see in her eyes. “Besides, I could use the extra help around here anyway, with Zig off doing who knows what.” 

The way she said that made Alek think Maegyn knew exactly what Zig was off doing. He also noted the mention of Zig, which had answered the question he hadn’t even known he’d had about the whereabouts of Maegyn’s older brother. 

“Anyway,” Maegyn continued. “Sabin and I worked very hard to prepare breakfast for all of us, and while I’m sure that there are many important reasons for this conversation, I for one am not a fan of cold food. So stay here if you want, but I’m going to eat.” 

She and Sabin left the room, leaving Alia and Alek behind. Alek reached to pull the blankets off of his legs, but Alia reached to stop him. 

“You’re still weak from that dark energy,” she said. “Wait here, I’ll bring you some food.” 

Alek nodded and settled back into the pillows propped behind him. 

He had to admit he was overwhelmed by what was happening. After months of being on his own, he had never imagined he would find people to be with again. Especially not some of his closest friends from childhood. Especially not his twin sister.

They were all different than they had been when they were kids, he realized. At one point, Alek had known each of them almost as well as he had known himself. He had known them all back when they were young and hopeful, and the realities of the world couldn’t touch them. But he could tell by looking at each of them now, that that young hopefulness was lost. He could see in the shadowed looks in their eyes. He had no doubt his were the same. It was a fact about himself he had come to accept - that every time he looked in the mirror he was looking at someone who was only eighteen biologically, but whose eyes showed the experiences of someone much older. For each of the others, it was the same. 

Alek wondered what exactly they had lived through that had stripped them of their light. 


	6. Chapter 6

Maegyn would never admit it to her face, but Alia intimidated her. The Alia Maegyn remembered was a fiery tempered young girl who hated to stay still for too long and was always ready to start a fight. While Maegyn doubted she had lost the fiery temper and the willingness to fight, there was no denying that the Alia she was with now was not the same as Maegyn had once known her. 

For one thing, she was obnoxiously tall. Or maybe Maegyn was obnoxiously short. Either way, it irritated her. Of course, Alia had always been taller than Maegyn, back when they were kids, but it had never been by that much. Maybe an inch or two at most. But now Alia stood over half a foot taller than Maegyn did. 

She was tall, and muscular, and carried herself with a sort of grace that was hard to ignore. 

There was also the fact that Alia just seemed to exist with this sort of… _calmness_ around herself. Maegyn wasn’t quite sure what it was exactly that made her seem like that. Maybe it had something to do with growing into her Ellri heritage. Maegyn remembered feeling the same sort of calm whenever she was around Alia’s parents. It was just a kind of agelessness that they had. Maegyn had never really understood it.

Neither did she really understand when Alia came up to her before she and Sabin left the safe house and asked if they could talk somewhere privately. 

Maegyn led Alia upstairs to her office, which was a place the people who normally visited the safe house were not welcome in. But this was Alia, one of her best friends from her childhood. Bringing her there felt no different now than when she was younger and they were climbing the ladder to Alia’s treehouse. 

Except that everything was different.

When they had settled in the room, Maegyn took note of the discomfort on Alia’s face. She probably didn’t want to have the conversation she had originally planned to, something that Maegyn was pretty used to given her line of work. 

“You needed to talk to me about something?” Maegyn prompted gently. “It had better not be about my cooking skills. I will have you know I am an excellent cook.”

Alia gave a half-hearted laugh. “It’s not about your cooking, Mae. Though I would say that you could stand to use a little more spices. Honestly those omelets you made this morning were so bland.” 

Maegyn made a noise of protest, even though she wasn’t really offended. If she had the spices to add to meals, she would’ve. But that wasn’t important. After the light jokes, Alia seemed to be a bit more comfortable, and Maegyn waited patiently for her to talk.

“I… I actually wanted to ask you about…” Alia paused, seemingly trying to figure out her words. “When Sabin and Fletch were brought to you… how bad was it?”

Well that certainly wasn’t what Maegyn was expecting. Though, given some consideration, it actually did make sense.

“I’m guessing neither of them were able to tell you?” she asked quietly.

Alia shook her head. “I haven’t seen much of Fletch since they came back because he was sent to Aelston to recover. And Sabin… I know that Sabin isn’t ready to talk about it yet, and I’m not going to push the issue.”

“So you’re asking me because…”

Maegyn was testing her. She didn’t actually need to know why Alia was asking; she already had a pretty good idea as to why. But she also knew it would be good for Alia to admit it out loud - to hear her reasons for herself.

Alia huffed, not really out of annoyance but more frustration - which Maegyn wagered was aimed just as much at Alia herself as it was at Maegyn. 

“I… care a lot about them, okay? Over the last couple of years, the two of them have become my family. It was the first time since… since Satama that I felt like I truly had a family I belonged to.”

“Valta wasn’t?” Maegyn asked, genuinely curious at the point Alia was making. She had known that Alia had been sent to live in her mother’s family’s village in northern Valta after her parents had died, but that had been as much as she had heard until Fletch and Sabin had showed up six months ago and had eventually healed enough to tell her about their team and that Alia was part of that team.

“Don’t get me wrong, Valta was great. Especially after hearing Alek’s… anyway, the thing about Valta is that it was full of water and air Ellri. Which was perfectly fine, I mean my mom’s family has both. But I didn’t fit in because I wasn’t… I can’t do what they can.”

Alia’s powers. Maegyn had known about them when she was younger, and Sabin had mentioned them on one of his better, more talkative days. The fact that Alia didn’t have powers that an Ellri typically would. Instead, she was telekinetic with an advanced kind of sense that allowed her to sense energies, people, and objects within a certain area. A useful power, but when surrounded by people who you should be like, Maegyn could understand how Alia probably felt. 

“My powers have always defined me,” Alia said. “But when I joined the military, suddenly my powers defined me not so much as an _outsider_ to be wary of, but as a _powerful asset._ It wasn’t necessarily a better position, but I accepted that’s what I was.”

“But then you found Sabin and Fletch.”

“More like they found me,” Alia admitted with a small smile. “We were all in the same year at the training academy, because my abilities were advance even despite me being younger than them. Anyway, training for me eventually got to the point where I had to have special sessions, just to give me a challenge. Fletch apparently caught wind of a rumor about some super powerful girl in their year who ‘fought like a bird of prey,’ and decided to come spy on one of my sessions, of course dragging Sabin along with him. Sabin recognized me almost immediately.”

“From that point on, the three of us were near inseparable. At least… until they were sent on that mission.” Alia took a breath, appearing to prepare herself for what she would say next. “When they didn’t come back… during the entire time they were missing… it felt almost as bad as losing my parents again. As being separated from Alek had been. Now I have Sabin back at least, but it’s not the same of course.”

“I wouldn’t expect it to be,” Maegyn said. 

“I want to know how bad it was for them so that maybe I can help more. I’m doing what I can now, but…”

“But it’s hard. I understand,” Maegyn said sympathetically. She understood all too well how hard it was to try and help someone you cared about without really being able to help them. Sitting down on the edge of her desk, she gestured for Alia to sit beside her. Once they were both sitting, Maegyn took a breath. 

“I can tell you what I know, and how it was when they were here. It… it’ll probably be pretty hard for you to hear, especially given that you also had to listen to what Alek went through in Einoth this morning.”

“It’s okay, I want to know.”

Maegyn nodded. “Well, to answer your original question, when the two of them were first brought here, neither was in good shape.”

She proceeded to tell Alia what had happened the night the two had arrived, trying to keep the graphic details to a minimum while still making sure Alia had the full idea of what had happened. 

It was hard to do. Fletch’s screams of pain still echoed in her ear. They hadn’t had enough time or the right medicines to properly sedate and numb him, which had led to Zig holding him down while Maegyn herself had cut off his arm in a hasty amputation. The rescue team had found him with a tourniquet on his upper arm, which they could only assume Sabin had done. It was obvious to Maegyn and Zig when Fletch was brought in that there was no chance of saving his arm. They had all known it was for the best, but that didn’t mean any of them actually _liked_ the idea of it. 

Sabin had been a different matter. Aside from multiple cuts that had easily been dealt with, he had physically been fine. But Maegyn had been able to tell he was not alright mentally. For one thing, he didn’t seem to recognize or even acknowledge any of the other people in the bunker aside from Fletch, even though he should’ve at least recognized the members of the military team that had rescued him. The only response Sabin actually gave to any of them was when he ended up shifting into a small wolf pup and curling up in Maegyn’s lap while she was trying to talk to him. He stayed like that, whimpering pitifully until he finally fell into a fitful sleep.

The next two months had been slow going. For most of the first month, Sabin had stayed in an animal form of some kind - most often the wolf pup. It had been hard to get him to eat or sleep, and in the rare moments when he was in his human form, he wouldn’t talk, not even to Fletch who was stuck in bed recovering from the loss of his arm. They sought each other for comfort though, which Maegyn took as a good sign. There had been many nights she had come in to check on them and had found wolf-pup Sabin curled up next to Fletch on the bed. 

Once Fletch was able to get out of bed more easily and able to walk around the safe house, Sabin seemed to open up more. He started spending more time in human form during the day, and slowly seemed to regain an appetite. He still barely talked, but Maegyn had been quick to figure out they could use sign to communicate. 

“Overall, Fletch seemed to have suffered more physically, while Sabin suffered more mentally,” Maegyn said as she finished her explanation to Alia.

Alia frowned. “Do you know why there was a such a difference in them?” she asked.

“We think… we think the Konna had a _takot_ with them,” Maegyn said carefully. “Since a _takot_ uses mental manipulations to show a person their deepest, darkest fears, Fletch would’ve been more immune to that, given his telepathy and strong mental fortifications. Torturing him physically was the Konna’s best option. Sabin on the other hand… he doesn’t have Fletch’s advantage against mental attacks, meaning it would’ve been all too easy for a _takot_ to have used their powers on him.”

“A _takot?_ ” Alia questioned. “But… I thought that was just a creature from legend.”

“It is,” Maegyn said. “Or, well technically it is at least. My brother and some of his friends… they believe that such creatures might still exist in the ancient lands.”

Maegyn hesitated, not sure how she wanted to continue in her explanation. She knew she was getting close to sensitive information not to just herself and her brother, but also others that were involved with the safe house. Was it really her place to tell all of this?

Then again, Zig had let her tell Fletch and Sabin about it, so she couldn’t see any reason to not tell Alia. 

Still, this was not something she enjoyed talking about, considering…

Oh fuck it. Alia was already involved, and chances were she was only going to get more involved. Really it would only hurt her more if Maegyn didn’t tell her. 

“The thing is, we don’t actually think that the Konna have enlisted the help of an actual _takot_ creature from the ancient lands. We think that most likely there is someone sided with the Konna who somehow was able to… appropriate, I guess would be the best way of saying it, the powers of a _takot_.”

Alia blinked, the surprise evident on her face. “So you’re telling me, that it's not a legendary creature being the _one who_ _reveals all fears_ -” she said, using the ancient epithet to describe the creature “-but instead is a Konna, an actual embodiment of darkness, is the one who has these powers to show people their deepest, most private fears?”

Maegyn winced at the bluntness of Alia’s description. “It… isn’t exactly like that,” she said. “The person with _takot_ powers that the Konna have… as near as we can tell, they aren’t actually full Konna.”

“So what, they’re…” Alia held her hands up in question, like she wasn’t sure what else the person could be.

“Half-Konna,” Maegyn admitted, her voice softening. This was the part she was always most hesitant to reveal. It was a confession that was too personal for her, especially given the question that almost always followed. 

“You seem to know an awful lot about this person,” Alia said. Maegyn didn’t miss the suspicion in her tone. “How… how do you know all of this?”

“I’m a Kalahati, Alia.”

“Yeah, I know that. The pointy teeth are hard to miss. But what difference does that… Wait.”

Maegyn nodded as Alia seemed to connect at least some of the dots. 

“You’re a Kalahati, but not like, a Kalahati who had a Kalahati parent,” Alia said slowly. “Your… your dad was a Konna, wasn’t he?”

“It’s called being a pure Kalahati,” Maegyn said. “Being a child of both a Konna and a Sankrin. My dad always appeared to people as a regular Kalahati because he was able to disguise his Konna eyes. He never even told me and Zig the truth about it before he left us the night Satama was attacked.”

Alia was staring at her in a mix of shock and confusion. Maegyn admitted she probably should’ve expected such a reaction from her. She didn’t seem to know how to respond as she slowly opened and closed her mouth for a good minute. 

“So… how does that lead to you knowing about the _takot_? And how they got their powers?” she finally asked.

Maegyn took a breath. This was the kicker - the big secret detail that she had only shared with a few other people ever since she learned it herself. But there wasn’t any turning back now. 

“She told me,” Maegyn said.

“Huh?”

“She told me about how she got her powers. Or, at least, how she was planning to get them.” Maegyn paused, looking towards the door and biting nervously at her lip. “She… she’s my sister.”

“Wait, your sister? You mean Bria?”

“That would be her,” Maegyn confirmed. “If I remember correctly, you always called her… Bri-at? Trying to make a play on ‘brat’ or something?”

“I stand by that too,” Alia muttered. “She was a brat.”

“She always said the same about you,” Maegyn said. “And really, she would have had more justification to call you that. Brat is normally a term that is used against someone younger than yourself.”

“Shush, I will hear no arguments in favor of me being a brat when I was a child.”

Maegyn managed to crack a small smile that, especially when Alia turned her grin towards her. It was short lived, though, when Alia sighed and returned to her serious expression.

“So what, Bria travelled to the ancient lands just to get this power? Why?”

“I think her Konna superiors sent her to do it. Something about her bloodline - and mine and Zig’s too, I suppose - being extremely compatible with the power. She uh… actually came to me and Zig while we were still living with Mom and asked us to come with her. But we could both tell she was lost to the Konna by that point, so we refused. Shortly after that is when we left to come here, which is where we’ve been ever since.”

Alia nodded, fitting the last few pieces together. Or, at least what pieces she could fit together. Maegyn had left out some details that weren’t hers to reveal, such has _how_ Bria was actually able to acquire the power from the _takot._ Alia would probably figure that out in due time, if things continued the way they were, but not yet.

Not yet.

**. . .**

Alia had a lot of questions. A lot of questions for a lot of different people. Her questioning of Maegyn earlier had answered some, but also had only resulted in more unanswered ones.

Maegyn was half-Konna. Her father was Konna. That was one thing Alia was struggling to believe. She had grown up being told stories of how to fear the Konna, of how the Konna were the embodiment of evil. They existed to spread darkness throughout the world, and did nothing that was not pertinent to their own personal gain. Yet none of what she had been told could have ever applied to Elian O’Carroll. She had always known him as the kind and loving father of Maegyn and Zig. She had stayed at his house numerous times, he had even tucked her into bed on multiple occasions when she slept over with Maegyn. Never once had Alia thought of him as being someone born of evil and darkness. She would even dare to go as far and say that he was a better father than Sabin’s, who was Sankrin through and through.

Sabin. That was another track of questions plaguing Alia’s mind. Maegyn had told her what she could about when Sabin and Fletch had been at the safe house, and Alia was thankful to know that much. But now that Alia knew - knew that Sabin had faced the torture of her worst fears being revealed to her... Alia felt helpless. She had no idea what Sabin’s fears were. If she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t sure she  _ wanted _ to know. Not because she was scared of what they were, but because the thought of her finding out seemed like such an invasion of Sabin’s person.

The fears a  _ takot _ showed were never something simple. They weren’t just a play on phobias such as spiders or snakes or the dark. No, the fears that were shown by the  _ takot _ were ones that lay deep within a person. So deep, in fact, that the person might not have even been fully aware of them until the  _ takot _ revealed them.

Alia had no doubt that the fears shown to Sabin were what plagued her every night in her nightmares.

The same nightmares Sabin was currently cursing for leaving them both sleep deprived as they made their trek through the woods and back into the town where they had found Alek only the day before.

_ Gods _ , had it only been that long? Alia couldn’t believe that within the span of the day, she had found her brother only to have to leave him again.

Leaving the safe house had been particularly difficult because of that. Frankly, if it hadn’t been for Maegyn basically shoving her and Sabin out the door, Alia would’ve stayed there with them as long as she could.

But unfortunately, they had a job to get back to, and a failed mission to report.

The walk back to town had taken longer than either had anticipated, and more than once Alia was tempted to make a joke about Sabin shifting into a horse so only _ one _ of them had to do the work of walking, but she didn’t. She could tell her teammate was still on edge from the nightmare the night before. Sabin was good at putting up a front that she was okay, but Alia could see through it.

She could see that having to report the mission as failed was bothering Sabin a lot more than she was actually letting on.

She knew why too. Sabin had already been on one failed mission. Regardless of the circumstances surrounding that mission, despite Sabin and Fletch being sent in one person short with no back up into a situation that not even the most experienced of teams should’ve been sent into - a situation that Alia was still not completely convinced had not been something of a setup - that mission would be considered a failure in the books.

That wasn’t something that would be easy to forget.

Sabin knew that they had no choice but to report this mission a failure - even if it  _ hadn’t _ been. Alia knew that too, despite her wanting a way to save her friend from the shame Sabin was already experiencing.

They had left the choice up to Alek for what he wanted to do, and he had chosen to stay behind. Alia was thankful - thankful her brother wouldn’t be subjected to the same kind of thing she dealt with on a daily basis. But a small part of her was still torn, for Sabin’s sake.

They had set out from the safe house after lunch, and it was near mid afternoon before they got back to the inn where they had been staying for the previous nights during their search.

They made quick work of collecting what few things they had left in their room and making sure that their horses were ready for travel.

It had taken them the rest of the afternoon to make it to the Konoz’ri Military Base, arriving just before sundown.

Almost immediately after arriving, they were brought to the scryer's room, where a scry was quickly sent to Commander Mecah.

Alia didn’t miss the tenseness in Sabin’s shoulders when the Commander’s face appeared in the scrying pool in front of them. She wished that Fletch was with them, wished that they could have the mental connection he normally created for the three of them to communicate. Instead, Alia resorted to nudging Sabin’s foot with hers, the same tactic they had resorted to when Mecah had first given them this search mission.

Sabin glanced at Alia out of the corner of her eyes and gave her a near imperceptible nod. Then she took a breath and focused her attention on the pool.

“Knight’s Team reporting in, sir,” Sabin said.

“Raider, Paryi, glad to see you made your checkpoint on time and in one piece,” the Commander said casually. Alia couldn’t stop the anger that spiked through her at the joke. She could sense the anger pulsing through Sabin as well.

The Commander probably hadn’t realized that the joke he had made hit too close to home for the two of them. Either that, or he didn’t care that on the last mission their team had been assigned, the two that had gone on it hadn’t made checkpoint on time nor made it back in one piece.

Neither of them could say anything to him about it though, despite Alia nearly biting her tongue off to prevent herself from speaking.

“Yes, sir,” Sabin said, her tone cold and unforgiving. Mecah would probably miss that also.

“So your report?” the Commander asked. He seemed bored, Alia noted. Like he couldn’t actually care less what they had to say about the mission  _ he _ had sent them on.

“We couldn’t find the Ellri, sir,” she answered. “The trail was cold by the time we had arrived in Suba.”

“The trail was cold?”

“Yes sir,” Sabin said. “We spent the week trying to pick it back up, asking around the markets of the area to see if anyone had encountered the Ellri but there was only one Valtan stand owner who gave us any answer, and he had said that it had been a week since he had seen the Ellri.”

That part of the story they had gotten from Alek. Maegyn had said that they needed to have at least some bit of truth in what they told the Commander, so they had quizzed Alek for parts of his time in Suba that they could include. The story of his encounter with the pudgy-faced stand owner who, according to Alek’s description sounded like he was of Valtan descent, was one that Maegyn had suggested they use, given that the man had seemed harmless enough.

“A stand owner’s witness was the only lead you got?” Mecah sighed, a shallow sort of sigh that suggested perhaps he wasn’t entirely surprised. “Very well. I’m disappointed you weren’t able to find the Ellri, but I suppose that perhaps we expected too much from such a young team.”

Again Alia had to bite her tongue to keep from protesting.

Instead, she managed to eek out a “Understood sir” alongside Sabin.

“It’s perfectly alright,” Mecah said, waving his hand dismissively. “We’ll work on preparing an extraction team to go check out the nearby Konna bases in that area. Meanwhile you two will be granted a week’s leave in Aelston.”

That wasn’t what they had expected.

“Wait, does that mean we’re off the mission?” Alia asked, unable to hold the question back.

“Of course,” the Commander answered. “You two aren’t ready for extraction missions. You are too inexperienced.”

Alia exchanged a glance with Sabin, but tried to keep her face as neutral as possible. Was the Commander forgetting that they had once been assigned an extraction mission and had been called more than capable of accomplishing it at that time, or was he taking back what had been said to them then?

It didn’t add up, but they would have to worry about that later. Instead, Alia forced herself to focus on what else Mecah had said. They were being given leave to Aelston.

That meant...

Fletch. They would get to see Fletch.

**. . .**

His head felt emptier than usual, and despite it having been that way for months, Fletch still couldn’t say he actually liked it. Normally, having no thoughts from other people raging in his mind was a good thing, but it wasn’t that he didn’t have thoughts from _others_ in his head, it’s just that he was missing _their_ thoughts.

He missed Alia and Sabin. 

With a groan, Fletch rolled over in his bed. His large bed that had become almost the entirety of his existence for the last few months. Admittedly, this bed was much nicer than the small bed he had had back in the base dorms - that one he had barely been able to fit in, since apparently the military did not expect their soldiers to be _tall_ \- but it wasn’t as if Fletch _liked_ being so attached to his bed. Though he had found that there wasn’t much else he wanted to do lately other than stay wrapped up under the covers and try to ignore the uselessness he constantly felt. Nicea’s visit a few days ago had been during a rare burst of energy, and a large part of that energy _had come_ from the fact that he had known she was coming to visit. 

Things had been easier when Nicea still stayed in his townhouse with him. His first two months back in Aelston had been challenging. He was still adjusting to the life of having one arm, and added to that the nightmares started coming full force once he didn’t have whatever animal form Sabin had chosen to sleep on his bed with that night. Nicea had been there during that time to keep him company and even though she couldn’t prevent the nightmares, she was at least there to comfort him when they were over. 

But after two and a half months Nicea’s parents had decided that she needed to come back home. She’d fought them of course, but in the end had given in. Fletch had promised he would be okay, and he did his best. 

But, _fuck_ , was he lonely. 

He rolled over again, this time onto his right side. He didn’t miss the moment where he expected the resistance of his arm only to realize that it wasn’t there. That was something _else_ he hadn’t gotten used to over the months. Fletch didn’t want to focus on that though, so instead he forced his attention to the bookshelf that sat across from the bed. The townhouse he was staying in was from the military, a sort of “sorry for sending you on a mission totally unprepared and fucking up your life” gift. It had come adequately furnished, for someone who wasn’t trapped inside of the damn house for months at a time. The books had been a gift from Nicea, not because Fletch had asked but because she had taken one look at the state of the place Fletch was staying in and decided he would need something more to keep from going insane. 

It was a nice gesture, but Fletch hadn’t actually looked at a single one of the books. Not that he didn’t like to read, but… he just didn’t feel up to it. And besides, juggling a large novel with only one hand took too much effort for him to actually be able to enjoy reading. 

Maybe today though…

Before he could really complete the thought, the sound of loud knocking rang through the house. Fletch frowned as he rolled over onto his back and pushed himself up out of bed. It really shouldn’t have been as much of a chore to get out of bed as it was, he thought distantly, picking up a shirt that had been randomly discarded on his floor.

More knocking sounded at the door with a sense of urgency. Fletch grumbled under his breath, wondering who it was that seemed to be so insistent on banging his door down this early in the - he glanced at the hallway clock and realized that, okay it wasn’t early in the morning like he had thought but actually the middle of the day. Oh well. At this point the days all blurred together anyway, and Fletch honestly couldn’t be bothered caring about the how they passed by.

Which was what made the knocking at the door so odd. Fletch didn’t have a lot of visitors, normally only Nicea and on occasion Corrin whenever his cousin had time off or was in the area. But neither of them ever knocked so loudly on the door. Normally they would just send gentle mental pulses to let him know they were there. 

As Fletch thought of that, he realized that whoever was knocking actually _was_ sending a mental pulse. Two soft pulses that were definitely not Nicea or Corrin. Excitement pushed him the last few steps to the door. 

Sabin. Alia. They were here.

Without a second’s hesitation, Fletch threw open the door and flung himself at the person closest to the entrance, which happened to be Alia. Of course she was the one knocking so loudly. And of course she sensed Fletch’s approach and side stepped enough so that Sabin was in the way of his attack instead. 

Sabin gave a grunt of surprise as he made the attempt to catch Fletch. And it really was just an attempt, since the combination of Fletch’s momentum and larger size pushed Sabin back, sending them both down the front steps of the townhouse. 

Or, they would’ve fallen down the steps, if Alia hadn’t reached out and caught them with her powers before they actually fell. So instead, they ended up suspended in midair, Sabin braced to take their fall and his arms wrapped tightly around Fletch’s back. 

“Thanks for the save Als,” he said, sounding like his breath was knocked out of him. Which it probably was. Fletch hadn’t exactly been gentle when he had hit him. “Now uh, if you could…”

Alia ignored the request as she turned her attention to Fletch.

“Hey Fletch, glad to see you’re up and moving around. Sabin and I are going to be staying here for a week, if you don’t mind.”

Fletch couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up in his chest. “Good to see you too, Als. I would give you a hug but I’m kinda stuck at the moment.”

That was probably the wrong thing to say, Fletch realized too late, because Alia’s eyes lit up with a mischievous gleam as she nodded slowly. “Of course, my bad.”

Then she retracted her hand and Fletch had just enough time to think _oh shit_ before the free-fall feeling hit his stomach and he and Sabin landed with a thud onto the ground. 

Fletch didn’t feel any guilt over Sabin taking the brunt of the fall. It had to have hurt, even if it had only been a few feet. 

He didn’t have enough time to apologize to Sabin, though, before he was hauled up to his feet and Alia was forcefully hugging him. The surprise only lasted a second before Fletch laughed and wrapped his arm around Alia in response, holding her as tight as he could. 

At their feet, Sabin was wheezing to catch his breath, but Fletch could feel the happiness in his thoughts. Alia’s thoughts, too, pushed through into his mind, and Fletch wholeheartedly embraced the feeling of having their two presences back in his life. 

And as he and Alia finally released their hug long enough to pull Sabin to his feet and have him join them, Fletch realized that for the first time in months, he finally felt content. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder that spoken lines written in [brackets] indicate the character is using sign language.

It had been three days since Alek had first woken up in the safe house and he couldn’t say he really minded it all that much. Maegyn was good enough company, especially after the months he had spent traveling on his own. She made sure to keep him busy, doing chores like helping her reorganize the storage room or mending the quilts that went on the beds. All in all, Alek was enjoying his time there. 

But one thing kept bothering him. Maegyn had explained her story about her true parentage and her sister who was sided with the Konna. She had told him the reason for her and Zig moving to the safe house, and what kind of people they helped the most. 

She said war refugees - people driven from their homes as the Konna continued pushing Sankrin forces back - were the most common people that utilized the safe house. 

The thing that confused Alek, though, was that was all Maegyn would ever say in reference to the war. Which didn't really help him any. Spending the last few years in Einoth, he knew next to nothing about the current events of Sankruus. Most people in Einoth shared the same opinion of the war, and that was to ignore its existence entirely. 

Alek didn’t want to ignore its existence. He knew he  _ couldn’t _ ignore the fact that the war was very much a reality. 

This realization that Alek knew little about the war but needed to know more was what led him to hovering in the doorway of Maegyn’s office on the third day of his stay in the safe house. 

The office was on the ground floor of the safe house. Maegyn had explained while giving him a tour on his second day (the day after Alia and Sabin had left) that normally she didn’t allow safe house patrons on the ground or second floor, just because it was safer that way. But since Alek seemed to be staying with her for the foreseeable future, she decided it was fine to bend that rule for at least the ground floor. She still wouldn’t let him onto the second floor, which she said was just hers and Zig’s bedrooms plus a washroom, and there was really no reason for him to go up there. 

Alek figured it was a fair enough rule, and he didn’t see much point in arguing it with her anyway.

Standing outside of the office door, it only took Maegyn about a minute to take notice of his presence. With a sigh, she closed the book she was taking notes from and looked up at him.

“You know, Alek,” she said. “In my experience, questions only find answers if someone actually has the guts to ask them.”

“How did you…” Alek asked in surprise before he narrowed his eyes at her. “Is the smart-ass response really necessary?”

Maegyn snorted a laugh as she stood up, collecting her books as she did. She walked over to Alek still standing in the doorway. Alek, as he had been for the last three days, couldn’t help the initial responses about how short Maegyn was compared to him. Sure, he’d always been taller than her when they were kids, but he had never expected Maegyn to end up at a height  _ that  _ short. 

The worst part of it was that when she looked up at him and he met the steely blue of her gaze, he felt like he was the one being looked down upon. 

“There is one thing you should learn very quickly about me, Alek,” she said with a grin. “I exist to make every single smart-ass response I possibly can. So you best get used to it.”

With that, she pushed past him and started walking towards the back of the house where the small library was. Maegyn hadn’t said to follow her, but Alek had gotten used to her mannerisms enough to know Maegyn was rarely one to give verbal commands (a trait that was very different from how she was a child) but rather had the tendency to imply when she wanted something. And at that moment, Alek could easily tell she wanted him to follow her.

The library was about the size of the basement’s storeroom, with the exception of a small port window on the back wall where the storeroom had no windows. There were a couple of armchairs placed on either side of the window, with a table in between. Shelves lined the side walls, with books filling the shelves. Alek wondered how Maegyn and Zig had managed to collect so many books when to his understanding they had left their mother’s home in a rush and wouldn’t have had time to get any books from there. He figured he could maybe ask Maegyn that eventually, but at the moment it didn’t seem relevant.

In the middle of the room stood a table that Alek figured in any other house would’ve been a very nice dining room table. But not so here. Maegyn came to a stop on one side of the table, setting her books down and pulling a large rolled up paper out of the stack that was balanced on a shelf underneath the table. Alek approached the table as she unrolled the paper, and couldn’t hold back the faint gasp at the sight of the large map of Sankruus and the surrounding lands. 

Maegyn looked up at Alek with a serious look in her eyes.

“You wanted to ask me about the war, right?” she asked.

Alek nodded, meeting her gaze with an uneasy feeling. He wasn’t sure how she had known that was what his question was about, but he also wasn’t sure if he wanted to know. 

“I’ll explain how I knew your question later,” Maegyn said. “For right now, just know I’m  _ not _ a telepath, but something similar.”

“Uh, okay?” Alek said, still confused as to how Maegyn was guessing his thoughts, especially with her claim of not being a telepath. 

“Good. Now about the war…”

Maegyn sighed and looked back down at the map. Alek noticed there were lines drawn across it in different colors. Lines coming up from the south were drawn in purple ink. He noted the purple circle surrounding the island of Satama, the place he had once called home. Purple boundary lines cut across the page, marked with dates. Maegyn was keeping track of how far the Konna were advancing, Alek realized. That would be the only explanation that would make sense, given the fact that Satama was well within the purple controlled area. 

“Being here,” Maegyn started, “it’s easy to try and forget that the war exists. I can live in my own little bubble away from the trouble of the world. But that’s not something that I want. So, in any way I can, I gather information about the war, and keep track of its progress.

“The Konna have advanced through most of the southeastern portion of the continent,” she said quietly. “Satama was first - a jumping point to Bundok and the rest of the southeast. They’ve advanced so far in eight years, with the Sankruus military struggling to keep them back. Right now, as far as either Zig or I can tell, things are kind of at a stalemate. The military has finally gotten their act together enough to stop the Konna advancement, but the Konna haven’t given up.”

Alek looked down at Maegyn’s map, his eyes following the lines she had drawn all the way back to their starting point. 

Satama. There wasn’t a day that had gone by that Alek hadn’t longed to return to the life he’d had there. Things had been simple back then. He and Alia had lived together with their parents, living a quiet, peaceful life. He’d had friends - Sabin and Nicea who had lived next door, and Maegyn who had lived a few streets away. They had all spent most of their days together, playing games in the woods at the edge of the village or begging Maegyn’s older brother Zig to take them to the beach. 

Everything had just been simpler back then. 

“The war… isn’t something I particularly like talking about,” Maegyn admitted with a quiet voice. “It’s taken so much… well, I guess you can understand.”

Alek could. He definitely could relate on that point. The war had taken his parents from him, had been the cause for him being separated from Alia when they were ten, only to find her and lose her again all within a day.

Maegyn, he assumed, had lost just as much because of the war.

“In Einoth,” Alek found himself saying, “they don’t talk about the war, or if they do it’s always ‘Sankruus’ war’. Most everyone is of the same opinion that it’s Sankruus’ problem, and that there is no reason for Einoth to get involved. My… my grandparents weren’t even remorseful that my father - their son - had died because of the war. In their opinion, it was his own fault, for choosing to live in such a place. But then again, they had lost most respect for him after he married my mother anyway.”

“I overheard some of what you said to Alia about your life there,” Maegyn said. “I didn’t mean to but, well… I’m sorry that happened to you.”

Alek shook his head, dismissing it. “Until I told Alia about it, I had been trying my best to not think about that life…”

“I understand what you mean,” Maegyn said. “Living in Suba, things were… not great. I guess the time I had spent in Satama had given me this delusion that people were accepting of Kalahati, because I had never faced ridicule for it before. Once we got to Suba though, Zig and I faced nothing but.”

She gave a slight laugh that held no real humor at all. “You know, it actually is sort of funny. This war is a war between the two things that make up who I am. I could choose to not be a part of it, but for some reason I just can’t. I can’t stay uninvolved.

“I think that’s how Alia felt as well,” she said, her voice falling quiet.

Alek raised an eyebrow at that. He hadn’t really considered Alia’s reasons for joining the military, and now that he thought about it, it really did seem kind of odd that she would. But what Maegyn was saying made sense. Alia was definitely not someone to stand by when there was some action that could be taken. She would do everything she could. She had always been like that, even when they were children and it was simply trying to get a cat (who had turned out to be a scared Sabin who had just discovered his powers) out of a tree. 

“You have the choice too,” Maegyn said, her voice breaking Alek out of his thoughts. 

“What?” he asked, tilting his head in confusion. 

“You have the choice to do something,” Maegyn clarified. “It’s not a choice that everyone says yes to, and it’s perfectly okay for you to decide to  _ not _ get involved.”

Alek realized that even though Maegyn said he had a choice, for him, the choice wasn’t really a choice.  _ Of course  _ he was going to get involved. His sister and his two best friends from childhood were already involved, it only made sense for him to join them. 

“You act as if you don’t already know what choice I’m going to make,” he joked.

Maegyn smirked. “I’m not clairvoyant, so I wouldn’t be able to officially guess. But I am pretty intuitive, so I figured-”

She cut off suddenly, her eyes widening as she looked towards the window. A look of alarm crossed her features, and Alek could feel himself moving towards a protective stance.

“ _ Shit _ ,” Maegyn muttered. 

“What is it?”

“The Konna. They’ve breached the safe house's barrier. Which should be  _ impossible, _ unless…” 

She ran out of the room with little explanation, and Alek had little choice but to follow after her. He found her back in the office, a small leather-bound book held in her hand. 

“Fuck, I was right,” she said. “It’s been too long since the barriers were reinforced. I’m going to wring her neck next time I see her.”

“Whose neck?” Alek asked. “What are you even talking about?”

Maegyn shook her head and stuffed the book into the pocket of her skirt. “No time to explain. We need to get out of here. Follow me.”

She led him back down to the basement, pulling the heavy door closed behind her. 

“I have emergency bags already packed with supplies,” she explained. “Grab your rucksack from your room while I get those, then meet me in the supply room.”

Alek did as he was told, wondering why they were meeting in the supply room of all places. His question was answered quickly though, when he entered the room and noticed one of the shelves was missing. In its place was an opening in the wall, leading down a dark hallway. Maegyn was standing in front of the entrance, a travel bag slung over her shoulder. Across her back, to Alek’s surprise, was a bow and a quiver full of arrows. 

When Maegyn saw him, she held out another travel bag. “I hope you’re okay to carry this?” she asked. “I would but my bow and quiver kind of get in the way.”

Alek nodded silently and took the bag, slinging it across his back. 

“So where does this tunnel lead, exactly?”

Maegyn looked up at him with a grim smile. 

“Unfortunately, it leads back to my home village. Congratulations, Alek, you’re about to be reunited with my mother, and probably meet the rest of my family.” 

With that, she stepped into the darkness of the tunnel. Alek followed with the thought of what the hell they were about to get into.

**. . .**

All Sabin had wanted was a quiet day out with her two best friends. She should’ve expected that that was too much to ask for, but she could wish, right?

As it was, the day had started out nice enough. They’d left about mid-morning, after she had managed to pull Alia and Fletch both out of bed. The three of them had walked through the section of the city that Fletch lived in, not really having any destination in mind. The mood had been light and comfortable until they turned down one specific street without meaning to.

Sabin had immediately frozen at the realization that they were about to walk down the street where her parents lived. Her parents who she hadn’t seen in over three months - except in her nightmares where her dad reminded her nearly every night how much of a failure and a disappointment she was. 

Fletch had been the first to pick up on what was wrong, probably because he had spent so much time on this street when he was younger that he recognized it almost as soon as Sabin did. With his one hand, Fletch reached out and gripped Sabin’s arm. 

“You don’t have to go see them yet, if you don’t want to,” he said quietly. 

Alia glanced between the two of them before turning to look down the street. She picked up pretty quick on what was happening, and nodded in agreement with Fletch.

“We can come back when you’re ready, Sabin,” she said. 

Sabin couldn’t help the twinge of guilt that went through her. Here she was, not even a hundred yards from her parents, being comforted by two friends who had both lost their parents when they were children, both because of the Konna. 

Alia’s had died when she was ten, when the Konna first started to invade Sankruus starting with the island of Satama. Fletch had been separated from his mother because of the Konna invasion in Bundok - he had been sent away to live in Aelston as part of a child-protection program. As far as he knew his mother was still alive, but he hadn’t seen her in nearly six years. 

_ Stop. You aren’t being selfish because of this, _ Fletch said to Sabin telepathically.  _ Just because your parents are alive doesn’t mean you have to spend your time with them. Especially if it’s only going to hurt you more. _

_ But… _ Sabin tried to argue.

_ It’s okay for you to take time to heal, Sabin,  _ Alia said, cutting her off.  _ We know you aren’t ready to face your dad yet. And if that means by extension not being able to see your mom either, that’s fine.  _

_ Maybe I can get Nicea to come visit me in the next day or so, _ Fletch suggested.  _ That should help, right? _

Sabin nodded silently. While it was true she had seen her sister since she had last seen her parents, Nicea was always much more of a comfort to her than either of them. Being able to see her would be a good first step in preparing Sabin to face her parents again.

“Come on,” Fletch said, pulling Sabin’s arm gently. “I know a nice place where we can get some food.”

That was how they had ended up in the small park, sitting on the grass by the edge of a small pond. Alia was chewing happily on the pastry Fletch had bought her from a nearby bakery while Sabin lay comfortably with her head in Fletch’s lap, Fletch’s gentle fingers running through her hair. 

She almost could’ve fallen asleep like that, if it hadn’t been for the obnoxious shouts that were aimed at them. 

Sabin grumbled as she sat up, looking in the direction that the noise was coming from. Alia and Fletch had already turned their focus that way, and as Sabin was slowly able to make out the words, she understood why Alia was seconds from jumping to her feet - the only thing stopping her being Fletch’s grip on her wrist. 

“Whose bright idea was it to let a Bundokian out in public like this?” was the first taunt Sabin was able to clearly make out, followed by “As if he weren’t already an abomination, he only has one arm!”

Sabin didn’t stop the low growl that built up in her throat. This wasn’t the first time the three of them had been out somewhere and some jackasses had seen it fit to make remarks like this towards Fletch or Alia. It wasn’t either of their faults that they weren’t normal Sankrin. Well, actually, they weren’t Sankrin at all but… 

Fletch got it the most. Possibly because people still feared Ellri enough to not want to risk pissing one off. But Fletch was from Bundok, descended from a race of mountain people who were all gifted with incredible mind powers. It was a mark of this race to have multicolored eyes - both were blue, but one was so dark it was basically black while the other was light enough to be considered white. Those that presented male also tended to wear their hair styled a certain way, with the hair on top of their head grown out to their chin while the underside of it was shaved short. Fletch’s had become a little mismanaged over the last few months, but Alia had taken time that morning to pull up the longer parts into a knot on the back of his head. 

That must have been how they had identified him, since they couldn’t have seen his eyes from that distance. 

Sabin could feel Fletch tensing beside her at the comments, but he still sent a warning to Sabin’s mind, telling her that it wasn’t worth getting into a fight with these idiots. He must have sent the same thing to Alia, since she lowered her guard just a little bit.

Though it went right back up when the next insult was thrown out.

“Oh and look, he’s got an Ellri whore with him.”

All three of them reacted to that. Fletch, while not willing to fight for himself, immediately shuffled to his knees, ready to take on whoever spoke bad about Alia.

“I’m going to throw them in the fucking pond,” Alia muttered under her breath. 

She didn’t get the chance to, however, because as soon as she got to her feet, a blast of what Sabin could only describe as _pure_ _magic_ flew through the area, taking their assailants and dumping them in the water at the far end of the pond - much farther than even Alia could have thrown them with her powers.

“Gods they were annoying,” a new voice piped up from behind them. Sabin turned to see a woman who looked to be about her age with outstanding fiery red hair falling to her shoulders. She spoke with an odd accent, one that Sabin wasn’t able to place, despite having been around people from all areas of the continent. 

“Uh, thanks?” Alia said, brushing her pants off. “Who are you?”

The woman blinked slightly then grinned. “My name is Emali. Nice to meet you…”

“Alia.”

“Fletch,” Fletch said, slowly getting to his feet. 

“Sabin,” Sabin answered, accepting Fletch’s hand up. 

“Alright,” Emali said with her grin still in place. She had one hand placed on her hip and the other gripping a slender staff. “Say, none of you have happened to have seen someone named Maegyn O’Carroll in this area, have you?”

They all stiffened at that. How did this woman know Maegyn? Why was she looking for her?

“We haven’t,” Alia said, not even attempting to hide the skepticism in her voice. “Any particular reason you are looking for her?”

“So she’s not here?” Emali asked, her shoulders slumping. To herself, she added: “Great. So why was I sent here then?”

“You were sent here?” Sabin couldn’t help but ask. She had a feeling Alia probably was about to ask the same, given that only the two of them would’ve been able to have heard Emali’s comment. 

Instead of seeming offended at the question, Emali nodded. “I was. By your sister actually.”

She said it so casually, it could’ve been nothing. But to Sabin, it was almost as if the words had caused an explosion. 

“Nic...Nicea?”

“Yah,” Emali said. “She told me I needed to be here, at this time, on this day. Unless I got it wrong…”

“But how do you know Nicea?” Fletch asked. 

Emali blinked again, seeming to consider the question. Finally she said “Do you want the long answer or the short answer?”

“What does that even mean?” Alia asked.

“Well I mean the long answer would be that I’ve known Nicea for, what… centuries now? I’m not going to bother to try and do that math at the moment. The short answer is that I met her two weeks ago when she gave me a message over tea at my favorite café, saying that the two of us needed to talk. Quite resourceful, your little sister.”

This statement was met with stunned silence until Alia finally exclaimed “Who the  _ hell _ are you?”

Emali laughed in response to this.

“Don’t worry, dearest Alia. You’ll be seeing much more of me in the future. But right now I’m looking for charming little Maegyn, who is with your brother, right? Anyway, I better get back to looking for them. See you around!”

With that, she lifted her staff and pointed it to the side. Where she pointed, a swirling portal of what could only be described as  _ flames _ appeared. With a wave, Emali ducked into the swirling flames and disappeared, the portal closing behind her.

They all stood in silence for nearly a minute. Finally, Sabin spoke up.

“Fletch, I think we better arrange that meeting with my sister now, if you don’t mind.”

**. . .**

Nicea waited quietly in the garden behind her house. Just as she had expected, with a flash of fire, Emali stepped onto the ledge of the small fountain, leaning her staff against her as she moved her arms in front of herself to sign.

“[ Care to explain what that was about ?]” she asked. 

Nicea smiled softly. It was no surprise that was Emali’s first question. Obviously, she had figured out about Nicea misleading her - making her think that it was Maegyn she would meet in the park as opposed to Sabin, Fletch, and Alia. 

Of course, Emali could also figure out why Nicea did that to her, without Nicea actually having to explain. But lucky for her, Nicea was feeling generous.

“[ I just figured it was time they got to meet you ,]” she signed, her smile not moving from her face. 

Emali leaned her head back in a groan before dropping to sit down on the fountain’s side.

“[ I can firmly say that none of us were ready to meet each other ,]” Emali said. “[ Not even Fletch had a clue who I was, even though I could feel him prying around in my head. And Alia couldn’t read my powers either, which I’m sure she was thrilled about.] ”

Nicea laughed. “[ Don’t worry, they’ll be fine. Really, at this point those three could use some harmless confusion. I was only more than happy to oblige .]”

“[ You’re an annoying teenager, do you know that ?]”

Nicea fixed Emali with a look that she knew the woman would understand. 

“[ A teenager, huh? I suppose that is how people see me .]”

“[ Ah, since we’re kind of on that topic ,]” Emali said. “[ I may have let it slip that we’ve known each other for centuries? I don’t think they necessarily caught it-] ”

“[ Oh, they definitely did ,]” Nicea interrupted. “[ The only thing that gets by those three is their feelings for each other .]”

Nicea grinned as Emali snorted at her joke. While she couldn’t actually hear the sound her friend made, the way she hunched forward and covered her mouth was enough for her to tell. 

“[ It’s still that bad ?]” Emali asked. 

“[ As bad as you could probably expect ,]” Nicea signed while nodding. “[ And don’t worry too much about the centuries comment. While the others definitely took notice of it, it isn’t going to be too long before they learn everything anyway. This can just be another healthy distraction for them.] ”

“[ I’m starting to think that’s becoming my actual job ,]” Emali said. If she had spoken it aloud - if Nicea had been able to hear her speaking it aloud - it definitely would have been muttered. As it was, she conveyed her feelings enough through her signing.

“[ Right now, that’s basically is what you are, at least until bigger things start happening,] ” Nicea said. “[ Oh, and you’re also transport. Because we have people scattered across the continent that need to not be scattered across the continent.] ”

“[ Oh, right. So where is Maegyn ?]”

The look on Emali’s face was one of indignance. Not that Nicea could really blame her. She had been waiting a long time for Maegyn to know everything, and the sooner that everyone was brought together, the sooner that would happen. So far, Emali had only been able to give Maegyn short visits at the safe house, but she had been sworn to secrecy. So all she could do was act as Maegyn’s informant to the outside, and also add the extra layer of protection to the safe house by creating the magical barrier that stood around its borders. 

“[ Maegyn is on her way to her mother’s village with Alek .]” 

“[ But that village hates her ,]” Emali said. “[ And I’m pretty sure they won’t exactly be thrilled to see an Ellri either .]”

“[ The safe house was compromised, I don’t think she had any other choice ,]” Nicea admitted. 

“[ No choice, huh ?]” Emali asked as she got to her feet. “[ That seems to be a consistent problem lately .]”

Nicea sighed. She knew that Emali wasn’t saying that as a knock against her, but she still felt like it was. Nicea spent the majority of her time looking at choices - at possibilities. She tried to make the best choices she could, and tried to lead others with those choices. 

“[ There’s always a choice ,]” Nicea said. “[ Sometimes it feels like there isn’t, because the great difference in the options. But you should know well enough that our lives revolve around choices.] ”

“[ Yes, I know ,]” Emali said, shaking her head with a silent laugh. “[ Still doesn’t mean I wish that we had more times where the options weren’t shit .]”

“[ Obviously ,]” Nicea agreed. She stood up and straightened her skirt, making sure she appeared to be every bit as the pampered socialite daughter she was expected to be. Then she looked up and met Emali’s eyes. The stunning gold of her friend’s gaze had never ceased to mesmerize Nicea, especially after all the years that the two had known each other. Emali’s eyes were the only part of her that showed her true age - they were filled with centuries worth of emotion - happiness and sorrow, longing and contentment. Emali was normally a guarded individual, hiding behind sharp remarks and near-childish antics, but her eyes always showed how she really felt.

At this moment, Nicea could see the apprehension that they were both feeling. Things were going to be changing for everyone very soon, and the choices they both made would play a central role in the outcome of everything. 

Reaching out, Nicea invited Emali into a hug. Sighing in relief, Emali accepted, wrapping her arms around her. The hug only lasted for a few seconds, before Emali pulled away and grabbed her staff. Turning back to face Nicea, she signed “[ I suppose I should go get Maegyn and Alek then .]”

“[ That would probably be best ,]” Nicea agreed. “[ We don’t really want to leave them in the village for too long .]”

“[ Where do I bring them once I get them ?]”

“[ Fletch’s townhouse ,]” Nicea said. “[ I’ll be there by then, and of course so will the other three.] ”

“[ Other three ?]” Emali asked. “[ But what about …]”

“[ Don’t worry, they’ll be coming in shortly ,]” Nicea answered, a small smile forming on her face.

“[ Sounds like a reunion to look forward to ,]” Emali said, her eyes flashing with amusement. “[ Well, in that case, I’ll be going. See you later,  _ Sikaa _ .]”

With a flash of fire and heat, Emali disappeared, leaving Nicea alone in the garden again. 

She knew what things were about to come. She wasn’t excited about it, definitely not. But she knew there was no choice but to be ready for it.

So Nicea brushed off her skirt and walked back into her house. 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr 
> 
> [ pulveremcomedesligulas.tumblr.com](https://pulveremcomedesligulas.tumblr.com/)


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